Structural design systems and methods for floor plan simulation and modeling in mass customization of equipment

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for selecting equipment for use in buildings are disclosed. The system may include at least one processor configured to perform operations that include accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms. The operations further include accessing functional requirements associated with the rooms and accessing technical specifications associated with the functional requirements. The operations include performing floor plan analysis on the floor plan to ascertain room features associated with the functional requirements and technical specifications. The operations include generatively analyzing the room features to determine a customized equipment configuration for at least some of the rooms, and generating a manufacturer dataset including a room identifier, an equipment identifier, and the customized equipment configuration. The manufacturer dataset enables a manufacturer to customize equipment for the rooms and package the customized equipment to display the room identifier.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims benefit of priority of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/897,159 filed Sep. 6, 2019; U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/940,040 filed Nov. 25, 2019; U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/980,932 filed Feb. 24, 2020; andU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/016,131 filed Apr. 27, 2020.The contents of the foregoing applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods forselecting and placing equipment for use in buildings. Disclosed systemsand methods may involve automatically simulating equipment selection andplacement locations in a floor plan.

Background Information

In architectural planning, selecting appropriate specifications andlocations for equipment to be used in many rooms in a floor plan can bea burdensome and time consuming procedure. Even when the same modelequipment is used in multiple rooms throughout a building, the preciselocation of the equipment in each room and customizations for theequipment may vary from room to room. For example, each room may havedifferent functional requirements or room features that requirecustomizations to the equipment, such as physical configurations,programming, labeling, or coloring, or other customizations. Moreover,buildings may have hundreds of rooms where equipment models andequipment placement may vary from room to room. This can result insituations where technicians select from a large equipment shipment thewrong equipment for a particular room; install the correct equipment inthe incorrect location; and/or install the correct equipment in thecorrect location but with incorrect selected settings. Such human errorcan be costly both in terms of labor and delay.

Therefore, there is a need for unconventional approaches that maximizethe chances that customized equipment will be installed in the correctrooms, at the correct locations, and with the correct settings. Further,there is a need for systems and methods to present the customizedinformation to enable a manufacturer to customize product in thefactory, and add a custom label to the packaging to facilitateinstallation.

SUMMARY

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure provide systems andmethods for architectural planning. The disclosed systems and methodsmay be implemented using a combination of conventional hardware andsoftware as well as specialized hardware and software, such as a machineconstructed and/or programmed specifically for performing functionsassociated with the disclosed method steps. Consistent with otherdisclosed embodiments, non-transitory computer-readable storage mediamay store program instructions, which are executable by at least oneprocessing device and perform any of the steps and/or methods describedherein.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, systems, methods, and computerreadable media related to selecting equipment for use in buildings aredisclosed. The methods may include accessing a floor plan demarcating aplurality of rooms. The methods may further include receiving a firstfunctional requirement for at least one first room of the plurality ofrooms and receiving a second functional requirement for at least onesecond room of the plurality of rooms. The method may includegeneratively analyzing the at least one first room in conjunction withthe first functional requirement to identify a first technicalspecification and a first equipment placement location in order to atleast partially conform to the first functional requirement; andgeneratively analyzing the at least one second in conjunction with thesecond functional requirement to identify a second technicalspecification and a second equipment placement location order to atleast partially conform to the second functional requirement. The methodmay further include outputting the first technical specification and thefirst equipment placement location in an associative manner with the atleast one first room and outputting the second technical specificationand the second equipment placement location in an associative mannerwith the at least one second room.

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure provide systems andmethods for selective simulation of equipment coverage in a floor plan.These embodiments may involve at least one processor configured toaccess a floor plan demarcating at least one room, receive, via agraphical user interface, information marking an area within the atleast one room, wherein the marked area defines an area of interest ordisinterest within the at least one room, and wherein the area ofinterest or disinterest covers an area less than an area of the at leaston room. The at least on processor may be further configured to access afunctional requirement associated with an area of interest ordisinterest, access technical specifications associated with thefunctional requirement, generatively analyze the technicalspecifications to define a solution that at least partially conforms tothe functional requirement, and output the solution.

Some embodiments of this disclosure involve structural design systems,methods, and computer readable media for selective simulation oftechnical specification coverage in a floor plan. These embodiments mayinclude accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms.Embodiments may include performing at least one of a machine learningmethod, semantic analysis, or geometric analysis on the floor plan toidentify at least one opening associated with at least one room from theplurality of rooms, accessing a functional requirement associated withthe at least one opening, and accessing at least one rule thatassociates the functional requirement with the at least one opening. Theat least one rule and the functional requirement may be used to defineat least one of an area of interest or disinterest less than an area ofthe at least one room, and accessing a technical specificationassociated with the functional requirement. Embodiment may includegeneratively analyzing the at least one room in conjunction with thetechnical specification and the defined area of interest or disinterestto define a solution that at least partially conforms to the functionalrequirement, and outputting the solution.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, systems, methods, and computerreadable media related to rule-based application of functionalrequirements to spaces in a floor plan are disclosed. The methods mayinclude accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of spaces. Themethods may further include performing semantic enrichment on theplurality of spaces in order to determine a semantic designation for atleast one space of the plurality of spaces, enriching the floor plan byassociating on the floor plan the semantic designation with the at leastone space, and identifying, in a data structure, a rule that includes afunctional requirement based on the semantic designation and associatingthe identified rule with the at least one space.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, systems, methods, and computerreadable media related to selecting equipment for use in buildings aredisclosed. Embodiments may include accessing a floor plan demarcating aplurality of rooms, accessing functional requirements associated withthe plurality of rooms and accessing technical specifications associatedwith the functional requirements. The embodiments may further includeperforming floor plan analysis on a floor plan to ascertain roomfeatures associated with the functional requirements and technicalspecifications. Then, embodiments of the disclosure may generativelyanalyze the room features with reference to the functional requirementsand the technical specifications to determine at least one customizedequipment configuration for at least some of the plurality of rooms; andgenerate a manufacturer dataset including a room identifier, anequipment identifier, and the at least one customized equipmentconfiguration, in a manner enabling a manufacturer to customizeequipment for each of the plurality of rooms and to package thecustomized equipment in a manner displaying the room identifier.

Some embodiments consistent with the present disclosure provide systemsand methods for selecting equipment for use in buildings. Theseembodiments may involve at least one processor configured to receive afloor plan demarcating contours of a room, receive a selection of atleast one functional requirement or equipment specification associatedwith the room, and generatively analyze the room to obtain a pluralityof solution that at least partially conform to the at least onefunctional requirement or equipment specification. The at least onprocessor may be further configured to receive a selection of a solutionfrom the plurality of solutions, wherein the selected solution includesan equipment placement location, receive instructions to vary theequipment placement location, generatively analyze the room to updatethe selected solution based on the instructions to vary the equipmentplacement location, and display the updated solution.

Embodiments of this disclosure involve structural design systems,methods, and computer readable media for automatically positioningprimary equipment and auxiliary equipment in a floor plan. Theseembodiments may include accessing the floor plan demarcating a pluralityof rooms and assigning functional requirements to each of the pluralityof rooms. Embodiments may include accessing at least one data structurecontaining technical specifications for primary equipment and auxiliaryequipment, and further containing locations of primary equipment andcompatibility rules associating primary and auxiliary equipment. Then, afloor plan may be generatively analyzed using the functionalrequirements and the technical specifications for the primary equipmentto select and position in the floor plan primary equipment to at leastpartially conform to the functional requirements for each of theplurality of rooms. Based on the selection of the primary equipment inthe floor plan, embodiment may include using the compatibility rules andthe technical specifications for the primary equipment and the auxiliaryequipment to determine whether auxiliary equipment is required for eachof the plurality of rooms and to select the auxiliary equipment to atleast partially conform to the functional requirements of each of theplurality of rooms requiring auxiliary equipment.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, systems, methods, and computerreadable media related to generating wiring diagrams for equipment aredisclosed. Embodiments may include accessing a floor plan defining aplurality of rooms, receiving input associating at least one of aplurality of functional requirements with at least one room of theplurality of rooms, and accessing, in a data structure, technicalspecifications associated with electrical equipment. Embodiments mayfurther include selecting, from the data structure, a plurality of thetechnical specifications associated with electrical equipment andgeneratively analyzing the at least one room in conjunction with thefunctional requirement and the selected technical specifications inorder to select a piece of equipment for the at least one room andselect an equipment placement location of the selected piece ofequipment within the at least one room. Structural data associated withthe at least one room may be accessed, the structural data includingwall locations. Then, a wiring diagram for the at least one room may begenerated using the selected technical specifications and the structuraldata, wherein the wiring diagram includes a graphical representation onthe floor plan of the equipment placement location of the selected pieceof equipment and wiring runs to the selected piece of equipment.

Disclosed embodiments, systems, methods, and computer readable mediarelated to extracting data from a 2D floor plan and retaining it in abuilding information model are disclosed. The methods may includeaccessing a 2D floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms. The methodsmay further include identifying, using a machine learning model, wallboundaries of the plurality of rooms. The methods may further includestoring the identified wall boundaries in a retention data structure.The methods may further include generating a building information model,wherein the building information model includes the identified wallboundaries. The methods may further include displaying, at an interface,a comparison of at least a portion of the 2D floor plan and the buildinginformation model. The methods may further include receiving, from theinterface, input based on the comparison. The methods may furtherinclude updating the retention data structure based on the input.

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure provide systems andmethods for selecting equipment models and optimizing placement ofequipment in floor plans. These embodiments may involve at least oneprocessor configured to access a floor plan demarcating a plurality ofrooms and equipment symbols, enable a user to select an equipment symbolfor analysis, parse the floor plan to identify instances of the selectedequipment symbol, and parse the floor plan to identify structuralelements including walls. The at least one processor may be furtherconfigured to access functional requirements for a set of rooms in theplurality of rooms containing the instances of the selected equipmentsymbols, access equipment technical specifications to identify equipmenttechnical specifications associated with the functional requirements,and perform a generative analysis on the identified equipment technicalspecifications within identified walls of each room in the set of roomsto select an equipment model that at least partially conforms to thefunctional requirements. The at least one processor may be furtherconfigured to update the floor plan by associating the selectedequipment model with the instances of the selected equipment symbols andoutput a bill of material based on the updated floor plan.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, systems, methods, and computerreadable media related to selecting equipment for use in buildings aredisclosed. Embodiments may include accessing a floor plan demarcating aplurality of rooms and accessing architectural feature data associatedwith the plurality of rooms. The embodiments may further include usingthe architectural feature data to perform a semantic enrichment processon the plurality of rooms in order to determine semantic designationsfor the plurality of rooms. Embodiments may then include associating, onthe floor plan, the semantic designations with the plurality of roomsand associating, in an index, the semantic designations with pluralityof rooms. The embodiments may include updating the floor plan by usingthe index to enable an action to be applied to a group of rooms sharinga common semantic designation.

The forgoing summary provides just a few examples of disclosedembodiments to provide a flavor for this disclosure and is not intendedto summarize all aspects of the disclosed embodiments. Moreover, thefollowing detailed description is exemplary and explanatory only and isnot restrictive of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this disclosure, illustrate various disclosed embodiments. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of anoptimization-based generative analyses process, for identifyingtechnical specifications and equipment locations, consistent with thedisclosed embodiments.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example rule-based generative analysesprocess for identifying technical specifications and equipment locationsthat may be performed, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example generative analysis for selecting andplacing equipment on a floor plan, outputting the solution to a user bydisplaying the selected equipment placement locations on the floor plan,generating a material list indicating the model identifiers of theselected equipment, and generating a coverage map, consistent with thedisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary machine learning based generativeanalysis process, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example process for selectingequipment technical specifications and placement locations for use inbuildings, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts exemplary floor plans with areas of interest, consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 6A depicts exemplary floor plans with areas of interest, consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 6B depicts an exemplary flow chart of a process for selectivesimulation of equipment coverage in a floor plan, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram illustrating aspects of an exemplary methodfor selective simulation of coverage associated with a switch in a floorplan, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 7B is a block diagram illustrating aspects of an exemplary methodfor selective simulation of coverage associated with a switch in a floorplan wherein the floor plan includes an existing controller, consistentwith the disclosed embodiments

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of an exemplary methodfor selective simulation of coverage associated with a camera in a floorplan, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for selectivesimulation of coverage in a floor plan, consistent with the disclosedembodiments.

FIG. 10A is a depiction of exemplary floor plans showing changing ofsemantic designations, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 10B is a depiction of exemplary floor plans showing semanticenrichment of furniture, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 10C is a depiction of exemplary floor plans showing addition ofsemantic designations, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 10D is a block diagram representing an exemplary semanticenrichment process, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 10E is a block diagram representing an exemplary semanticenrichment process, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for rule-basedapplication of functional requirements to spaces in a floor plan,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 12A is a block diagram illustrating an example process for masscustomization of equipment, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 12B is an illustration of an exemplary label layout for acustomized label.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example process for customizingequipment for use in buildings based on floor plans, consistent with thedisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 14A depicts an exemplary schematic illustration of a floor plan,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 14B depicts exemplary user input including a functionalrequirement, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 14C depicts an exemplary solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 14D depicts exemplary user input varying equipment location,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 14E depicts an exemplary updated solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 15A depicts an exemplary solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 15B depicts exemplary user input varying equipment location,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 15C depicts an exemplary updated solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 16A depicts an exemplary solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 16B depicts exemplary user input varying equipment model type,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 16C depicts an exemplary updated solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 17A depicts an exemplary solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 17B depicts exemplary user input varying equipment height,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 17C depicts an exemplary updated solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 18A depicts an exemplary solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 18B depicts exemplary user input varying equipment orientation,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 18C depicts an exemplary updated solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating equipment placement and providing specificationdetails, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 19 depicts an exemplary flow chart of a process for selectingequipment for use in buildings, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 20A illustrates aspects of an exemplary process for usinggenerative analysis to select primary equipment and auxiliary equipment,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 20B illustrates an exemplary process for using generative analysisto select primary equipment and auxiliary equipment, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method forautomatically positioning primary equipment and auxiliary equipment in afloor plan, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 22A is a depiction of exemplary wiring typologies, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 22B is a depiction of exemplary wiring typologies, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 22C is a depiction of an exemplary wiring diagram, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for generatinga wiring diagram for equipment, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 24A is an illustration of exemplary stages of an exemplary processfor extracting data from a 2D floor plan and retaining it in a buildinginformation model, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 24B is an illustration depicting an exemplary geometric analysis ona floor plan, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 24C is an illustration depicting an exemplary geometric analysisfor identifying doors and sills, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 24D is an illustration depicting an exemplary machine learning dooranalysis, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 24E is an illustration depicting an exemplary machine learningwalls analysis, consistent with disclosed embodiments

FIG. 24F is an illustration depicting an exemplary machine learningfurniture analysis, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 24G is an illustration depicting an exemplary machine learning roomanalysis, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 25A is an illustration depicting an exemplary process for addingidentified features and equipment associated with BIM objects to abuilding information model, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 25B is an illustration depicting an exemplary process for addingidentified features and equipment associated with BIM objects to abuilding information model, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 25C is an illustration depicting exemplary user input for updatinga retention data structure, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 25D is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for extractingdata from a 2D floor plan and retaining it in a building informationmodel, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 26 depicts exemplary floor plans with equipment symbols, consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 27 depicts an exemplary flow chart of a process for selectingequipment models and optimizing placement of equipment in floor plans,consistent with disclosed embodiments

FIG. 28A is a diagram illustrating an example floor plan augmented witharchitectural features consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28B illustrates an example a semantic enrichment process consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28C illustrates a tabular representation of an example indexconsistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28D illustrates an example search function that may be performedconsistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28E, illustrates output of an index search consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28F illustrates an example floor plan with offices highlighted,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28G illustrates an example process for automatically generating anactionable index, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28H illustrates another example action that may be performed basedon an index, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28I illustrates an updated index following the action performed inthe prior figure, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28J illustrates another example action that may be performed basedon an index, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28K illustrates an updated floor plan indicating rooms withconference tables following the action performed in the prior figure,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 28L illustrates an updated floor plan after the action in FIG. 28Jhas been performed, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 2900 foranalysis, segmentation, and indexing of architectural renderings,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 30 illustrates an exemplary system architecture for using modelingand simulation to select equipment, consistent with disclosedembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In architectural planning, selecting the appropriate specifications andlocations for equipment to be used in many rooms in a floor plan can bea daunting task. For example, each room may have multiple functionalrequirements that may affect the selection and placement of equipmentwithin the room. Further, there may be thousands of possiblecombinations of equipment specifications and placement locations, eachwith varying degrees of conformance to the functional requirements.

Therefore, there is a need for unconventional approaches that enableusers to input functional specifications for multiple rooms into asystem configured to run a series of simulations to automaticallysuggest equipment and equipment placement within the rooms.

The disclosed methods and systems are directed to provided new andunconventional methods of selective simulation of equipment coverage ina floor plan. Conventional approached to selecting equipment in a floorplan may be unable to generate accurate, optimized plans due to resourceconstraints given the labor-intensive engineering and drafting processor when information is lacking (e.g., a designer may make a “best guess”or assumption when estimating equipment location, install time, etc.).Additionally, the interconnectivity of multiple complex systems mayimpose significant challenges when attempting to select equipment toimprove performance (e.g., improved energy efficiency). As a result,conventional approaches may lead to inefficiencies, high costs, suboptimal solutions, and/or rigid plans that are not customized to aparticular need.

Therefore, there is a need for a new type of system and method that mayuse a variety of data sources, including incomplete data sources, tooptimize floor plans, efficiently analyze floor plans, optimally placeequipment to meet various design objectives, identify and placeauxiliary equipment, generate wiring diagrams, and more. As compared toconventional approaches, the disclosed systems and methods improvecomputational efficiency, produce more optimal solutions, and allowgreater customization.

When designing the interior of a building, an architect or structuralengineer may consider, from a large list of equipment specifications,which equipment may be appropriate for s space, where to place it, andhow to orient it. At the same time, the architect or structural engineermust consider costs and structural issues that may arise from using onepiece of equipment over another. Conventional approaches to this aspectof designing the interior of a building may rely on human judgment oroverly simplistic algorithms, thereby lacking the ability toautomatically perform these tasks in an efficient and optimized manner.Further, some areas within a floor plan, including areas inside a room,may have different requirement than adjacent areas, or may beparticularly important. For example, camera coverage or the lighting ofan egress may be more important to design than coverage in other areasof a room, and camera coverage may be undesired in private spaces suchas bathrooms or changing rooms. Conventional solutions may fail toidentify such areas of interest or disinterest accurately in automatedway, or may be labor intensive and fail to efficiently scale or beconsistently applied when planning using dozens, hundreds, or eventhousands of floor plans.

In accordance with the present disclosure, a structural design system,method, and/or computer readable medium may be provided for selectivesimulation of technical specification coverage in a floor plan.Embodiments may include defining areas of interest for modeling andsimulation-based space planning. Defining an area of interest ordisinterest may include delimiting, outlining, establishing, and/or anyother implementing any method of distinguishing one space from another.Generally, an area of interest or disinterest may be an area upon whichfunctional requirements or technical characteristics are applied and maydiffer from the functional requirement applied to another area of theroom. Such areas may be unmarked on floor plans, making it difficult todesign or plan equipment for spaces. For example, if a floor plangenerally contains a functional requirement to maximize Wi-Fi coveragein many rooms, proposed solutions may maximize coverage withoutproviding coverage in areas of interest such as at cubicle locationswithin offices or in a waiting area of a lobby. To enable more efficientand effective planning, disclosed embodiments provide ways toautomatically define areas of interest or disinterest based on ananalysis of a floor plan. Embodiments may include identifying ordefining areas of interest or disinterest based on user input.Accordingly, embodiments promote rapid, large scale, customizable, andaccurate identification of areas of equipment, and embodiments mayfurther provide improved techniques to identify and select equipmentthat satisfy functional requirements for areas of interest ordisinterest.

In architectural planning, adding accurate and consistent labels tovarious aspects architectural floor plans may be difficult and laborintensive. In some cases, a designer may desire to make the same changesto rooms of the same or similar type across a very large complexarchitectural plan or set of plans. However, such widespread changes toa large floor plan may require painstaking effort to change only a smallaspect of a large number of rooms. Further, rooms of some plans could bemislabeled, which may lead to further errors that could drasticallyaffect later design considerations or even the construction of abuilding. Therefore, aspects of the current disclosure relate tounconventional approaches that efficiently, effectively, andconsistently update architectural plans.

In building floor plans, equipment and functional requirementsassociated with rooms are often unspecified, leaving designers with thechallenge of determining which equipment to select and where to placeit. This problem is compounded when selecting and placing auxiliaryequipment (e.g., cables, screws, patch panels, junction boxes, videorecorders, network switches, racks, or other accessories) that supportprimary equipment. In such data-limited situations, conventionalapproaches may lack the ability to determine functional requirements andautomatically select and place primary and auxiliary equipment thatmeets those requirements in an efficient and optimized manner.

In architectural planning, creating comprehensive, detailed, andaccurate wiring diagrams for building planning and construction may bedifficult and labor intensive. Buildings may include a wide variety ofequipment that requires electrical wiring including, for example,lighting, power outlets, smoke alarms, CCTV systems, sensor systems,HVAC systems, motors and pumps, solar power grids, electric car chargingstations, and others. Electrical wiring may include high-voltage,medium-voltage and low-voltage wires and/or cables. Therefore, whendesigning a building, a designer or planner may need to create complexwiring diagrams for equipment to ensure that wires are run properlythroughout the building and permit various pieces of equipment to accesselectrical power. Conventional design tools face difficulty creatingsuch complex wiring diagrams accurately and efficiently. Planners mayrely on manual inputs or leave such details off plans entirely, causinginstallers to make decisions based on limited information in a floorplan. Additionally, selection of electrical equipment and wiring and thelocations of the equipment may affect operating costs, and there is aneed for systems and methods of generating wiring solutions thatminimize future costs.

In architectural planning, the geometry contained in 2D architecturalfiles such as CAD, PDF and image files may lack structured semanticinformation and metadata. For example, the vectors representing roomsand their demarcations such as walls may be a set of points without anyassociated metadata or semantic designation identifying them as roomsand walls. In some cases, the vectors representing walls may be not bedifferentiated from vectors representing furniture or otherarchitectural elements. The absence of machine-readable roomdemarcations and architectural features may render conventionalcomputational processes challenging or infeasible. In another cases,two-dimensional drawings may provide inadequate context for a designerwho wishes to view a building or a room in three dimensions. Forexample, a designer or planner may not be able to grasp the size of aroom relative to its height using only a two-dimensional plan. Adesigner may also wish to understand how layouts of multiple floorsrelate to each other by viewing multiple floors in three dimensions atthe same time. Designers may also wish to view hand drawn or paper plansin three dimensions. In many situations, manually generating threedimensional plans is not practical or feasible. Conventional solutionsface difficulty generating floorplans with structured semantic data andthree dimensional views from two dimensional plans accurately andefficiently, and may require a large amount of manual input.Accordingly, there is a need for non-conventional systems and methods ofautomatically generating three dimensional models with structured dataof buildings from two dimensional plans.

Some disclosed methods and systems are directed to providing new andunconventional methods for selectively simulating equipment coverage ina floor plan. Building planners may seek to ensure that a floor plan issufficiently covered by lights, cameras, motion detectors, or othersensors, equipment or devices. Conventional approaches to selectingequipment may not adequately ensure that each space in every room in afloor plan that should be covered is in fact covered. Constraints ondesigners and drafters make it difficult if not impossible to useconventional techniques for ensuring equipment coverage. Often,designers or drafters are left to make a “best guess” or assumption whenselecting equipment and estimating its location. Additionally, theinterconnectivity of multiple complex systems may impose significantchallenges when attempting to select equipment to improve performance orcoverage. As a result, conventional approaches may lead toinefficiencies, high costs, sub optimal solutions, or rigid plans thatmay not satisfy coverage needs.

Therefore, there is a need for a new type of system and method that mayuse a variety of data sources, including incomplete data sources, tooptimize floor plans, efficiently analyze floor plans, optimally placeequipment to meet coverage requirements.

During the architectural planning process, it may be beneficial to applyactions in bulk, for example, to a group of rooms sharing similararchitectural features or room functions. In many cases, identifyingsimilar rooms on a floor plan may be challenging, especially whenanalyzing large numbers of rooms in many floor plans. For example, manyfloor plans may not list room names, which may indicate a room'sfunction. In other instances, the room names identified on the floorplan may not be structured, which may prevent bulk actions from beingperformed. In other instances, the names of large numbers of identifiedarchitectural features, furniture and equipment may not be structured.Further, information embedded in floor plans may be difficult toefficiently search or act upon. For example, a search for “offices” infloor plans may require inefficient loading of large files that containinformation not relevant to a search, such as image data. Further,applying bulk actions to groups having shared characteristics may bedifficult or impossible when working with floor plans directly.

Therefore, there is a need for unconventional approaches forautomatically determining semantic designations for a plurality of roomsin a floor plan and generating an index to facilitate rapid searchingand bulk actions.

In architectural planning, selecting appropriate specifications andlocations for equipment to be used in many rooms in a floor plan can bea burdensome and time consuming procedure. Even when the same modelequipment is used in multiple rooms throughout a building, the preciselocation of the equipment in each room and customizations for theequipment may vary from room to room. For example, each room may havedifferent functional requirements or room features that requirecustomizations to the equipment, such as physical configurations,programming, labeling, or coloring, or other customizations. Moreover,buildings may have hundreds of rooms where equipment models andequipment placement may vary from room to room. This can result insituations where technicians select from a large equipment shipment thewrong equipment for a particular room; install the correct equipment inthe incorrect location; and/or install the correct equipment in thecorrect location but with incorrect selected settings. Such human errorcan be costly both in terms of labor and delay.

Therefore, there is a need for unconventional approaches that maximizethe chances that customized equipment will be installed in the correctrooms, at the correct locations, and with the correct settings. Further,there is a need for systems and methods to present the customizedinformation to enable a manufacturer to customize product in thefactory, and add a custom label to the packaging to facilitateinstallation.

The disclosed methods and systems are directed to provided methods ofselecting equipment for use in buildings. In large building projects forexample, thousands of pieces of equipment might need to be specified,placed, oriented and adjusted. In some instances, there is aninterrelationship between pieces of equipment, leading to a preferredsolution that includes interdependencies. And once equipment is selectedand placed, there is sometimes a need to change the selection orplacement, which can have a cascading effect. Embodiments of thisdisclosure enable both generative analysis of floor plans to select,place and adjust equipment, and further enable movement of equipment inthe floor plans after placement, along with associated recalculations toarrive at a preferred solution.

Embodiments of the present disclosure enable design constraints to beachieved must more accurately than conventional approaches and in muchshorter time. In addition, if changes are needed after an equipmentselection is already made, disclosed embodiments may enable rapidadjustment unattainable with conventional approaches. Therefore, thereis a need for a new type of system and method that may use a variety ofdata sources, including incomplete data sources, to optimize floorplans, efficiently analyze floor plans, optimally place equipment tomeet various design objectives, identify and place auxiliary equipment,generate wiring diagrams, and more. As compared to conventionalapproaches, the disclosed systems and methods improve computationalefficiency, produce more optimal solutions, and allow greatercustomization.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the followingdescription, throughout the specification discussions utilizing termssuch as “processing”, “calculating”, “computing”, “determining”,“generating”, “setting”, “configuring”, “selecting”, “defining”,“applying”, “obtaining”, “monitoring”, “providing”, “identifying”,“segmenting”, “classifying”, “analyzing”, “associating”, “extracting”,“storing”, “receiving”, “transmitting”, or the like, include actionsand/or processes of a computer that manipulate and/or transform datainto other data, the data represented as physical quantities, forexample such as electronic quantities, and/or the data representingphysical objects. The terms “computer”, “processor”, “controller”,“processing unit”, “computing unit”, and “processing module” should beexpansively construed to cover any kind of electronic device, componentor unit with data processing capabilities, including, by way ofnon-limiting example, a personal computer, a wearable computer, smartglasses, a tablet, a smartphone, a server, a computing system, a cloudcomputing platform, a communication device, a processor (for example,digital signal processor (DSP), an image signal processor (ISR), amicrocontroller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a central processing unit (CPA), agraphics processing unit (GPU), a visual processing unit (VPU), and soon), possibly with embedded memory, a single core processor, a multicore processor, a core within a processor, any other electroniccomputing device, or any combination of the above.

The operations in accordance with the teachings herein may be performedby a computer specially constructed or programmed to perform thedescribed functions.

As used herein, the phrase “for example,” “such as”, “for instance” andvariants thereof describe non-limiting embodiments of the presentlydisclosed subject matter. Reference in the specification to features of“embodiments” “one case”, “some cases”, “other cases” or variantsthereof means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed may be included in at least one embodiment of the presentlydisclosed subject matter. Thus the appearance of tsuch terms does notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment(s). As used herein, the term“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. In the present disclosure, “or” may be used asa convenient shorthand for “and/or.” That is, “or” may encompass bothconjunctive and disjunctive joining of terms. Further, “and” may also beused as a convenient shorthand for “and/or” in the present disclosure.Accordingly, the use of either “and” or “or” is not necessarily intendedto require all of the elements to be included or to exclude otherelements.

Features of the presently disclosed subject matter, are, for brevity,described in the context of particular embodiments. However, it is to beunderstood that features described in connection with one embodiment arealso applicable to other embodiments. Likewise, features described inthe context of a specific combination may be considered separateembodiments, either alone or in a context other than the specificcombination.

In embodiments of the presently disclosed subject matter, one or morestages illustrated in the figures may be executed in a different orderand/or one or more groups of stages may be executed simultaneously andvice versa. The figures illustrate a general schematic of the systemarchitecture in accordance embodiments of the presently disclosedsubject matter. Each module in the figures can be made up of anycombination of software, hardware and/or firmware that performs thefunctions as defined and explained herein. The modules in the figuresmay be centralized in one location or dispersed over more than onelocation.

Examples of the presently disclosed subject matter are not limited inapplication to the details of construction and the arrangement of thecomponents set forth in the following description or illustrated in thedrawings. The subject matter may be practiced or carried out in variousways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein is for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting.

In this document, an element of a drawing that is not described withinthe scope of the drawing and is labeled with a numeral that has beendescribed in a previous drawing may have the same use and description asin the previous drawings.

The drawings in this document may not be to any scale. Different figuresmay use different scales and different scales can be used even withinthe same drawing, for example different scales for different views ofthe same object or different scales for the two adjacent objects.

Various terms used in the specification and claims may be defined orsummarized differently when discussed in connection with differingdisclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the definitions,summaries and explanations of terminology in each instance apply to allinstances, even when not repeated, unless the transitive definition,explanation or summary would result in inoperability of an embodiment.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, “at least one processor” mayconstitute any physical device or group of devices having electriccircuitry that performs a logic operation on an input or inputs. Forexample, the at least one processor may include one or more integratedcircuits (IC), including application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC),microchips, microcontrollers, microprocessors, all or part of a centralprocessing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), digital signalprocessor (DSP), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), server, virtualserver, or other circuits suitable for executing instructions orperforming logic operations. The instructions executed by at least oneprocessor may, for example, be pre-loaded into a memory integrated withor embedded into the controller or may be stored in a separate memory.The memory may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory(ROM), a hard disk, an optical disk, a magnetic medium, a flash memory,other permanent, fixed, or volatile memory, or any other mechanismcapable of storing instructions. In some embodiments, the at least oneprocessor may include more than one processor. Each processor may have asimilar construction or the processors may be of differing constructionsthat are electrically connected or disconnected from each other. Forexample, the processors may be separate circuits or integrated in asingle circuit. When more than one processor is used, the processors maybe configured to operate independently or collaboratively. Theprocessors may be coupled electrically, magnetically, optically,acoustically, mechanically or by other means that permit them tointeract.

Aspects of this disclosure may relate to systems, methods and computerreadable media for selecting equipment for use in buildings. Forexample, in architectural planning, selecting appropriate equipment foruse in many rooms and identifying locations for this equipment can be adaunting task. The disclosed embodiments may simplify this process byenabling users to input functional requirements for multiple rooms. Aprocessor may run a series of simulations, which may also be referred toas an optimization process, which may constitute of running a series ofsimulations to suggest equipment and equipment placement in the rooms. Aprocessor may run a calculation or series of calculations to suggestequipment and equipment placements in rooms, or use a machine learningmodel to suggest equipment and equipment placements models in rooms

For ease of discussion, a method is described below with theunderstanding that aspects of the method apply equally to systems,devices, and computer readable media. For example, some aspects of sucha method may occur electronically over a network that is either wired,wireless, or both. Other aspects of such a method may occur usingnon-electronic means. In a broadest sense, the method is not limited toparticular physical and/or electronic instrumentalities, but rather maybe accomplished using many differing instrumentalities.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, a method may involve accessing afloor plan. As used herein, a floor plan may include any graphicrepresentation of a layout, partial layout or section of a building,which may include an interior of the building, an exterior of thebuilding, or both. The floor plan can include any representation of anyfloor or surface in any structure, including an existing structureand/or a contemplated structure that has not been constructed. The floorplan can include representations of rooms; representations ofarchitectural features such as windows, doors, walls, columns andfurniture including their materials, representations of both primary andauxiliary equipment such as sensors, electrical equipment, HVACequipment, motors, pumps, wiring, cable trays, and technical equipmentrooms. These representations may be in the form of symbols as is thecase with formats such as CAD or parametric objects or digitalrepresentations of real life objects as is the case with a BuildingInformation Model (BIM) file which may contain BIM objects. BIM filesmay be used to generate and manage digital representations of physicaland functional characteristics of places, buildings and objects. BIMobjects may describe actual architectural elements such as walls, doorsand furniture and equipment and can hold a various metadata, geometricand parametric information regarding them. For example, a wall BIMobject may contain a wall geometry, a physical makeup of a wall (bricks,concrete or gypsum), a finishing type of a wall, a fire resistancerating of a wall, and/or locations of openings in a wall. It may includeboth 2D and 3D images or graphical representations of the wall, andgraphical representation for the BIM object on a floor plan object.Building Information Modeling (BIM) objects may include a combination ofdetailed information, attributes, parameters, technical characteristics,geometry, and metadata that defines an object (e.g., piece of equipment,architectural feature, etc.) and represents the object's physicalcharacteristics in two and/or three dimensions. A BIM object may bedescribed as a “digital twin” or digital equivalent of real worldobjects, architectural features and equipment. For example, a BIM objectmay contain a description, dimension, BIM family classification, modelnumber, a 2D floor plan symbol and a 3D image. A BIM object may includetechnical characteristics such as visualization data that gives theobject a recognizable appearance and behavioral data, such as detectionzones, which enable the object's position to be determined or to behavein exactly the same way as the product itself, for example in asimulation. A BIM object may represent windows, doors, boilers, or anyother equipment, as disclosed herein. A BIM object may indicate aspecific model of equipment, a generic piece of equipment, a family ofequipment, or any level of specificity in between.

The floor plan may be associated with residential, commercial, or publicbuildings (e.g., offices, homes, schools, museums, transportationstations/airports, medical facilities, or other public structures.), orany other structure. For example, the floor plan may depict a physicallayout of one or more rooms in the building (e.g., a single room in abuilding, a suite of rooms, a whole floor of rooms, or an entirebuilding of rooms). In some embodiments, the floor plan may beassociated with a mobile structure, such as a ship, a motor home orother recreational vehicle, an airplane, or other vehicles. The floorplan may be constructed in a 2D format, 3D format or any combinationthereof. A floor plan may be complemented or augmented with a singleline diagram which may be a simplified graphic representation of aplurality of pieces of equipment in a system or plurality of systems. Ina single line diagram, each line may represent one part of a system. Asingle line diagram may indicate equipment technical specificationsand/or quantities and/or identifiers without a representation of alayout and/or the room demarcations of the rooms in which the equipmentis located. A single line diagram may use simplified symbols torepresent equipment. A single line diagram may include, for example,connection details between one or more pieces of equipment. A singleline diagram may provide an overview of one or multiple systems. Thefloor plan may be represented in any suitable format. For example, thefloor plan may be represented as a hand-drawn or scanned image, in avector-based format (e.g., CAD, PDF, DWG, SVG, or other 2D drawingformats), in an image format (e.g., BMP, JPG, PNG, or similar imagefiles), in 3D models, in Building Information Models (“BIM”) in IndustryFoundation Classes (IFC) or Revit™ (.RVT) format, or any other graphicalor digital format. The floor plan may be in digital or hard copy formatsor both. In some embodiments, the floor plan may be represented as adata structure, described in further detail below. A floor plan may alsoinclude other information associated with the plurality of rooms and theequipment and data contained therein including architectural featuressuch as door and furniture locations and types, equipment, technicalspecifications, functional requirements, equipment lists, energymetering, BMS data, iOT data, or any other data that may be relevant tothe floor plan.

Consistent with the present disclosure, the floor plan may demarcate aplurality of rooms. As used herein, a room may include any definedindoor and/or outdoor space. For example, a room may include a bedroom,an office, an entryway, an electrical room, a kitchen, a bathroom, alaboratory, a control room, a boiler room, a mechanical rooms, a garden,a hallway, an attic, a balcony, an atrium, or any other area or spacethat may be associated with a building or structure. A room demarcationmay include information in the floor plan indicating the location of aroom in relation to the rest of the floor plan. The demarcation mayinclude representations of one or more boundaries (sometimes referred toas contours) of the room. The boundaries may include objects, real orimaginary, that constitute the room's borders (such as walls or windowsthat surround a room), openings associated with the room's borders(doors and window leading in and out of the room), equipment and/orarchitectural features (columns, beams, furniture, etc.) contained inthe room. In some embodiments, the floor plan may include textualinformation, such as the name or function of the rooms, the number ofthe room, the classification tag of the room, information regarding thedimensions of the room, or other textual information. Identification ofa room demarcations and contours may allow for a variety of actions tobe efficiently applied or performed on a room. Non-limiting examples ofthe many types actions that may be applied to a room with identifiedcontours may include: application of functional requirements ortechnical specifications; addition of equipment; extraction of geometricdata as an input for a simulation or optimization process; extraction ofroom geometric data such as room area and number of boundary segmentsand architectural features such as walls, doors and furniture to be usedas inputs to an optimization process and/or for a machine learningmodel, or various other actions as described throughout the presentdisclosure. These inputs may be used, for example, by a machine learningmodel to semantically enrich various elements of the room includingsemantic designations such as room function, and/or the semanticdesignations of its architectural features and equipment an optimizationto be run within the boundaries of a room. They may also be used by amachine learning model trained on a dataset of room geometries andequipment technical specifications and placement locations generatedwith an optimization process, for example, to select and place equipmentwithin the room.

In some embodiments, the borders or contours of a room may not initiallybe demarcated in the floor plan in a machine readable format or formatwhich can deciphered by a machine. In an image file (JPG, PNG), forexample, the representations of room borders may only be pixels withoutany associated metadata or semantic designation to distinguish them forother pixels representing furniture and other elements. In a CAD or PDFfloor plan, for example, the vector data structure representing thegeometry used to symbolize or represent rooms including their walls,doors and other architectural feature many not contain any metadata orsemantic designations identifying them as such, and may only contain theactual points that make up the geometry. In some cases, the specificvectors describing the room's borders may have the same properties asany other vector in the file and may not be identified as such. Thesevectors may be described as a list of points without any associatedmetadata (e.g., [(0,0), (2,2), etc.]).

In other cases, a set of points or lines in a file may be groupedtogether in a layer which may be associated with a name or othermetadata. However, this metadata may be unstructured and not conform toa standard, convention, classification, and/or semantic designation. Alayer, for example, containing lines representing walls may be named“A3-1.” In a building information model (BIM), otherwise referred to asa BIM file or BIM floor plan, objects such as walls, windows, and doorsmay have not been bound and/or associated with a room. In other cases,for example, spaces and/or rooms may have not been defined. In othercases, there may be duplicated or overlapping rooms. This may be theresult, for example, of a user error during the creation of the BIMmodel or an issue with a BIM object. In many cases, room bordersrepresented in a floor plan may be inferred by a human viewer, whomentally visualizes them by connecting lines which make up walls, doorsand windows in the plan and recognized by their visual style andcontext. However, a computer may not have these capabilities and may notbe capable of isolating the borders from existing data. Thus, thedisclosed embodiments may include processes to automatically add suchborders, inferring them from name, geometry, visual style, metadata andcontext. Accordingly, receiving the floor plan demarcating contours of aroom may include performing additional processing on the floor plan todemarcate the contours of the room. In cases where room contours are notinitially identified by a machine, a user may need to manually defineroom contours. Examples of manual definition of room contours mayinclude marking the contours on a floor plan using a drawing tool,selecting the walls that constitute the contours of the room, using acreate room or space tool, or entering the room contour coordinates.

In some embodiments, the additional processing on the floor plan todemarcate the contours of a room may include performing image processingon the floor plan to demarcate the contours of the room. Imageprocessing (i.e., image analysis or image processing algorithms) mayinclude identifying lines, circles, or other features from pixel-basedimages to fill in missing contours or otherwise gather informationregarding geometry. For example, this may include a Hough transformalgorithm to reconstruct lines or circles from pixel-based images.Another example may include the use of Canny edge detection to identifyedges of solidly colored shapes. In some embodiments, image analysis maybe employed to analyze a floor plan if vector information is missing.For example, image analysis may be used to demarcate contours of a roomfor hand drawn plans, scanned plans, or other representations. Imageanalysis may be used to augment geometric analysis, semantic analysisand machine learning methods.

In some embodiments, artificial neural networks may be configured toanalyze inputs and generate corresponding outputs. Some non-limitingexamples of such artificial neural networks may comprise shallowartificial neural networks, deep artificial neural networks, feedbackartificial neural networks, feed forward artificial neural networks,autoencoder artificial neural networks, probabilistic artificial neuralnetworks, time delay artificial neural networks, convolutionalartificial neural networks, recurrent artificial neural networks, longshort term memory artificial neural networks, and so forth. In someexamples, an artificial neural network may be configured manually. Forexample, a structure of the artificial neural network may be selectedmanually, a type of an artificial neuron of the artificial neuralnetwork may be selected manually, a parameter of the artificial neuralnetwork (such as a parameter of an artificial neuron of the artificialneural network) may be selected manually, and so forth. In someexamples, an artificial neural network may be configured using a machinelearning algorithm. For example, a user may select hyper-parameters forthe an artificial neural network and/or the machine learning algorithm,and the machine learning algorithm may use the hyper-parameters andtraining examples to determine the parameters of the artificial neuralnetwork, for example using back propagation, using gradient descent,using stochastic gradient descent, using mini-batch gradient descent,and so forth. In some examples, an artificial neural network may becreated from two or more other artificial neural networks by combiningthe two or more other artificial neural networks into a singleartificial neural network.

For example, artificial intelligence methods including, but not limitedto, deep learning networks may be used to segment walls and roomcontours from a floor plan, or detect and classify architecturalfeatures such as doors, windows, furniture as well as equipment. Anon-limiting illustrative example of possible artificial intelligencetechniques is the use of segmentation, detection, and/or classificationmodels such as ResNet, YOLO or RetinaNET trained to identify walls,doors, or furniture based on a training set of labelled walls, doors,and furniture. Machine learning models may include but are not limitedto classification models, neural network models, random forest models,Convolutional Neural Network Models, deep learning models, recurrentNeural network models, support vector machine models, a support vectormachine model, ensemble prediction models, Adaptive Network BasedInference System, or any other machine learning model. Possible deepneural types of CNN's may vary according to the type of task and mayinclude Resnet 50 for classification, RetinaNet for detection- and Unetand Mask RCNN for segmentation. Embodiments consistent with the presentdisclosure may include structured data models such as, for example,boosting algorithms (e.g XGBoost), standard neural networks, and randomforest models.

As one of skill in the art will appreciate, machine learning may includetraining a model to perform a task, the training including providingexample training data to the model and iteratively optimizing modelparameters until training criteria are satisfied. For example, a modelmay be trained to classify data using labelled datasets. In someembodiments, a model may be trained to use training input data toproduce an output that closely matches training output data. Modeltraining may include hyperparameter tuning, sizing of mini-batches,regularization and changes in network architectures. It should beunderstood that systems and methods contemplated herein include usingavailable machine learning platforms and/or libraries to train and/ormanage models (e.g., TENSORFLOW, PYTHON, MATLAB, KERAS, MICROSOFTCOGNITIVE TOOLKIT, and/or any other machine learning platform). In someembodiments, training of machine learning models may be supervisedand/or unsupervised. Training data may take many forms including, forexample, the annotation of elements including but not limited to variousarchitectural features (e.g. doors, door sills, windows, walls, rooms,etc.) and equipment (e.g. sensors, furniture, cabinetry, lightingfixtures, HVAC ducting, etc.).

Some examples of possible approaches to the training of a dataset, aplurality of floor plans may be annotated in different formats includingbut not limited to CSV, JSON, and/or other file types to allowmulti-type deep learning training and other possible machine learningtraining techniques. Various annotation methods may be used to labelfeatures for training depending on the task such as masks or boundingboxes. As illustrative non-limiting examples regarding annotations,geometric objects such as boxes, oriented boxes, or polygons may be usedto identify and demarcate features of interest in a plurality of floorplans. These objects may be generated manually by drawing them over theimage or automatically, by using heuristic, geometric or statisticalgorithms to generate them, or generated and/or identified using otherpossible techniques, or any combination thereof. The annotations may beused for detection, segmentation, and/or classification tasks, as wellas other machine learning algorithms, computer vision tasks, or anyother artificial intelligence tasks, as well as in conventional machinelearning and/or statistical methods.

In some embodiments, training images may be cleaned by removing textand/or redundant features and/or other elements. Training sets, mayinclude 1000 images per class or more. In some embodiments, trainingdata may be augmented, for example, by rotating images, adding syntheticdata, \the addition of noise, or various other techniques. For smallobject detection such as doors and door sills, a floor plan may becropped into a reduced size such as, 1000×1000 pixels, and afterwardsmay be recomposed and used with non-maximum suppression. Floor plans maybe resized to 1024×1024, 512-512, or other suitable sizes beforeinputting them to the artificial intelligence model for larger holisticobjects such as walls and room. Annotated floor plans may be dividedinto training and validation sets. For detecting architectural featuresin the floor plans and predicting features, various deep learning modelsmay be used, which may include, but are not limited to RetinaNet basedon the Resnet classification network, for detecting doors. Forsegmentation tasks of walls and rooms, mask RCNN or a base of amulti-purpose network such as UNET may be used, which may employ anencoder-decoder architecture to reconstruct semantic segmentation on topof the floor plan image. In some embodiments, various metrics may beused to assess the prediction performance of models. Such metrics mayinclude, for example, mAP, F Score, accuracy, intersection over union(IOU), or other performance metrics. In some cases, an ensemble of aplurality of models may be used to increase prediction performance. Forexample, deep learning networks may be trained on a specialized cloudmachine with an industrial GPU or with a variety of other types ofmachines. The result of deep learning models may be post-processed withcomputer vision algorithms, such as RANSAC, Hough lines, and Connectedcomponents algorithms. A machine learning model may be combined with ageometric analysis and/or semantic analysis.

In some embodiments, receiving the floor plan may include performing ageometric analysis on the floor plan to demarcate the contours of theroom. As used herein, a geometric analysis may include any form ofanalysis for extracting information from a floor plan based ongeometries represented in the floor plan to identify walls, windows,doors and other architectural feature which may demarcate the contoursof the room. A geometric analysis may include an interrogation of afloor plan represented in a BIM, CAD, PDF or file format containinggeometric entities such as lines, polylines, arcs circles or vectors.The geometric analysis may use coordinates (e.g., XYZ coordinates) ofend points of entities to determine properties of the entities and theirrelationship each other. For example, information derived from ageometric analysis may include: line length, line direction, thelocation of geometric objects in the floor plan, or any other propertiesrepresented in the floor plan. The geometric analysis may includesearching the floor plan for sets of parallel lines or vectors,perpendicular lines or vectors or lines in a certain angle, which may beindicative of walls or other boundaries of a room. The geometricanalysis may include measuring distances between entities and find pairsof entities close to each other, identifying sets of entities thatcreate patterns which repeat in different locations in the floor plan,finding relations of inclusion between a point and a closed geometry, orany other relationships between points, lines, or shapes represented inthe floor plan that may indicate room contours. After identifying aseries of polygons that may be potential walls (e.g. wall candidates),rooms and their contours may be identified, for example, by offsettingthe polygons outwards by 50-100 mm to close gaps and joining all polygonborders using polygon Boolean operation. This may result in a largeborder polygon, with several “hole” polygons. The “hole” polygons may beconsidered rooms, for example if they meet certain conditions. Examplesof the many types of conditions, may include, for example minimum area,minimum width and rules against not being nested into each other.Another example geometric analysis for the identification of doors mayinclude searching for containment of possible door geometries (e.g. anarc and a line with similar sizes/radii which meet in their end points)within room boundaries.

In some embodiments, receiving the floor plan may include performing asemantic analysis on the floor plan to demarcate the contours of theroom. A semantic analysis may include but is not limited to an analysisof a BIM or CAD or PDF file, which may interrogate and analyzeparameters and attributes of a plurality of elements in the file. Forexample, in a CAD file, a semantic analysis may include interrogatingthe name of the layer an entity is drawn in, the type of entity, or thetype of line it is represented with. As another example, a semanticanalysis may include using the name of a CAD block to determine if thetype of element it describes. In a BIM model, a large amount ofinformation may be contained within semantic and textual fields as BIMobject properties, geometric data, metadata, and attributes. In thistype of files, a semantic analysis may yield information regarding thetype, location, and the physical makeup of architectural elementsrepresented by BIM objects. For example, a semantic analysis maydetermine a type of wall, its location, bounding points, its structure,its fire rating or its dimensions.

In some embodiments, a semantic analysis of a BIM file may yieldinformation regarding the type, model, or manufacturer of furniturerepresented as BIM objects. In these files a semantic analysis may alsoyield relationships or associations between different elements in thefloor plan, for example an association of a wall with a door within it,or a wall with the room it borders. A semantic analysis may includeaccessing and extracting data from a BIM file regarding roomdemarcations, otherwise referred to as room contours or room boundaries.Semantic analysis can also yield information regarding the function of aroom or element (e.g. sleeping area, office, storage space, etc.). Asemantic analysis may include Natural Language Processing algorithmssuch as word2vector, which may be used to infer semantic meaning evenwhen it is not clearly represented in the data (i.e. algorithms thatinfer that a hallway is another word for a corridor or that a reclineris a type of sofa). A semantic analysis may be combined with geometricanalysis and/or machine learning models.

In other embodiments, a BIM analysis may be used for additionalprocessing of a BIM file beyond semantic analysis. A BIM analysis mayinclude but is not limited to an analysis of a BIM model using acombination of geometric analysis, semantic analysis, and machinelearning methods aimed at extracting specific information regarding thearchitectural features, geometry and BIM objects in a floor plan.Although semantic analysis may, in many cases, identify objects andelements of interest, in certain cases human modeling errors, or issueswith a model or BIM object may necessitate additional processing such asgeometric analysis and machine learning methods to identify all objectsand elements of interest. For example, walls and columns may have notbeen bound to rooms. In some cases, rooms or spaces may have not beencreated. In other cases, rooms may be overlapping or duplicated. In suchcases, analysis of geometries using geometric analysis may assist torectify such as issues. In another example, a BIM object such as a chairmay be incorrectly associated with a BIM family for another category ofequipment (e.g. toilet). In such a case, the use of a machine learningdetection model may correctly identify the object as a chair. Theresults of a BIM analysis may include a set of room boundaries, names,numbers, descriptions of the rooms, walls, doors, and windows associatedwith said rooms, equipment associated with said rooms, materiality,technical characteristics, technical specifications, and description ofany of these elements, or their properties.

In other embodiments, topological analysis may be used for additionalprocessing of a floor plan. Topological analysis may refer to ananalysis of the connectivity of rooms, spaces, zones, and floors withina floor plan that can reveal information regarding the properties ofthese rooms, spaces, zones, and floors. A topological analysis maydefine relationships between rooms and their position in the floor planhierarchy using the doors that connect between them to create spatialmaps. A spatial map may include weighted graphs and graph propertiessuch as connectivity and shortest paths. Topological analysis may employgeometric analysis, which may include an interrogation of a BIM, CAD,PDF, and/or any 2D or 3D floor plan containing geometric entities suchas lines, polylines, arcs, circles, and/or vectors. Topological analysismay employ semantic analysis which may include interrogating and parsingof BIM file for information regarding room connectivity, roomadjacencies and room openings such as doors. Door faces (i.e., a side ofa door) may swing in one direction and not the other, so opposing doorfaces may behave differently because one face may open inward while theother may open outward. Determining a preferred door face may includeestablishing which door face is optimal for a desired result. Forexample, when determining a preferred door face for a door required tobe covered with a sensor, topological analysis may establish that oneside of the door is better suited for a particular sensor than theother. As an example, it may determine that the side of the door facinga corridor is more suitable. As another example, when determining apreferred door face for a lighting controller, topological analysis mayestablish that one side of the door is better suited for the lightingcontroller than the other. For example, a light controller may belocated on a side of a wall corresponding to a door face that is easierto reach for an individual entering or exiting a space through the door.In some embodiments, a preferred door face may be identified by means ofmachine learning methods.

The floor plan can be accessed in a variety of ways. In a general sense,accessing may occur when, for example, a floor plan is uploaded, linked,retrieved, recovered, extracted, or otherwise provided to or obtainedfor analysis by at least one processor. Additionally, or alternatively,accessing may occur when at least one processor is enabled to performoperations on the floor plan. In some embodiments, accessing may occurwhen a floor plan is retrieved from some form of memory. The floor planmay be retrieved, for example, from a network location, such as anetwork drive, a cloud-based platform, a remote server, or other formsof network storage locations. Accessing a floor plan may includeidentifying a floor plan based on a description of a floor plan, atitle, a name, a number, or another floor plan identifier. In someinstances, accessing a floor plan may occur in response to user inputvia a user interface. In some examples, accessing a floor plan mayinclude loading a floor plan in memory based on user inputs defining thefloor plan (e.g., based on a scan of a floor plan or a drawing of afloor plan via a graphical user interface). A floor plan may be accessedbased on a search of floor plans using search criteria. For example, theat least one processor may identify a floor plan using a Boolean searchmethod of textual data associated with a floor plan, such as identifiersof the floor plan. Alternatively or additionally, accessing a floor planmay include identifying a floor plan which satisfies a minimum ormaximum size, has a specific number of rooms, has a date of creationthat meets particular criteria, has a room of a particular type, isassociated with a functional requirement, or which satisfies any othersearch condition.

In some embodiments, identifying room contours, a generative analyzingprocess, and/or other processes such as the performing of semanticenrichment may be computed on a cloud-based servers or interface orretrieved from a cloud-based interface. A cloud-based interface may beany user interface allowing a user to download, upload, or otherwiseinteract with data stored in remote servers. In some embodiments, theremote servers may be managed by a hosting company, such as IBM® Cloud,Amazon® Web Services, or similar online storage platforms. Moregenerally, cloud-based may refer to applications, services, or resourcesmade available to users on demand via the internet from a cloudcomputing provider's servers. Cloud-based computing can increasecapacity, enhance functionality, or add additional services on demand atreduced infrastructure and labor costs. Cloud based services may be usedto allow complex, computationally expensive algorithms to be accessed byusers directly through their browsers without the need to downloadsoftware to their personal computers.

In some embodiments, machine learning models, such as one or more ResNetmodels trained to classify architectural features, or classificationsmodels such as XGBoost trained to predict room functions, may be stored,for example, in cloud based file hosting services (such as Amazon S3,Azure Blob storage, Google cloud storage, DigitalOcean spaces, etc.).The model, for example, may be fetched and loaded into memory (RAM) bymicroservices during their initialization. Once loaded into RAM, themicroservices may able to receive requests in the form of messages (suchas synchronous HTTP messages; asynchronous messages via messagebrokering software/services such as Amazon SQS, RabbitMQ, KafkaMQ,ZeroMQ; persistent connection such as websockets or raw TCP sockets, orraw non-persistent packets via the UDP protocol, etc.). Once a requestis received, the service may, for example, invoke the model with thepayload of the message (such as bitmaps, text, or other appropriate datastructures the model was trained with), and receive a result (e.g., witha data structure that is based on the type of model) in return. Theservice then may respond, for example, with the generated machinelearning model result.

In some embodiments, a series of simulations or an optimization processmay be run on the cloud. A cloud-based optimization may be, for example,based on orchestration of one or many microservices that execute analgorithm. For example, an orchestrating service may receive thelocations of resources, or the actual resources in either raw binary orhuman-readable data structure, as well as any other parameters andmetadata that may be required for the book keeping (e.g. in a database,in-memory cache service, or file storage services). The orchestratingservice then may, for example, preprocess the resources and parameters,and generate permutations that may be dispatched (by either synchronousor asynchornous messaging schemes, often depending on the expectedruntime duration of the algorithm) to worker microservices that may beresponsible for the actual execution of the optimization algorithm.There may also be additional intermediate steps, for example, betweenthe main algorithm orchestrator and the worker microservices. Uponcompletion of the optimization algorithm, the microservices maydispatch, for example, a mirroring message that signifies the completionof the algorithm. Artifacts and intermediate results may be kept inin-memory caching services (such as Redis™) or in file storage services(such as Amazon™ S3) for example. The orchestrator or the intermediateorchestrating services may then, for example, postprocess the results(and any of the aforementioned intermediate artifacts and results of theprocess) of the optimization algorithm, and may choose, for example, todispatch additional requests based on the nature and performance of theresults. After all expected results are received in the algorithmorchestrator, a message may dispatched back, for example, notifying theoptimization process is complete, accompanied by either the results (orthe locations of the results in file storage services/databases), aswell as any other relevant artifacts and intermediate results generatedin the process

In some embodiments, the floor plan may be accessed from local storage,such as a local memory device associated with the processor performingthe disclosed methods. In other embodiments, the floor plan may beuploaded by a user, for example, through a user interface. Various othermeans for accessing the floor plan may be used, including receiving atransmission of the floor plan from another computing device, a scanningdevice, an image capture device, or any other device that may transmitinformation for analysis.

Some embodiments may involve acquiring one or more functionalrequirements associated with rooms represented in the floor plan. Forexample, embodiments may include receiving a first functionalrequirement for at least one first room of the plurality of rooms, andreceiving a second functional requirement for at least one second roomof the plurality of rooms. As used herein, a functional requirement mayinclude any description or other representation that defines expected orrequired performance parameters, attributes or performance objective. Afunctional requirement may be assigned to any building system, aproject, a floor plan, a zone, a room, an area, an architecturalfeature, or any other aspect of a layout or a component of a layout. Thefunctional requirements may define performance parameters associatedwith the placement and specification of equipment. In other words,whether a system satisfies the functional requirements may depend atleast partially on the location and specifications of equipment within afloor plan. Accordingly, a functional requirement may be used as atarget for a generative analysis to determine equipment placementlocations and/or technical specifications for equipment, as described infurther detail below. A functional requirement may describe, forexample, minimal, maximal or preferred performance of a system, sensor,or component at performing a task.

Non-limiting examples of functional requirements may include values orparameters specifying sensor properties (e.g., image capture quality,resolution, frame rate per second, movement detection type, occupancydetection type, detection range, facial recognition, or other image orvideo properties), energy consumption, wattage, temperature, exchangerate, humidity, air flow, air quality, heat dissipation, comfort level,cooling or heating capacity, thermal comfort, network bandwidth, networkspeed, signal strength, signal to noise ratio, signal coverage, radiofrequency range, screen size, speech intelligibility, noise levels,water pressure, angle, dimensions, fire rating, energy rating,environmental rating, occupancy, quantity of desks or workstations, orany other variables, objectives or properties that may be present in abuilding, space, room, group of rooms, or floor plan. In someembodiments the functional requirements may be defined based onapplicable national, state or municipal codes or industry standards. Thefunctional requirements may be based on other performance requirements,such as those specified by a user, architect, builder or organization.

The functional requirements may be received in various manners. In someembodiments, receiving the functional requirements may include accessinga database or other form of storage location configured to store one ormore functional requirements. In some embodiments, the functionalrequirements may be stored in a data structure linking the functionalrequirements to particular floor plans, rooms, areas, zones, buildings,or otherwise specifying where the functional requirement is applicable.Accordingly, at least one of the first functional requirement or thesecond functional requirement may be prestored in a data structure. Thefunctional requirements may be accessed over a network connection, ormay be stored in a memory local to the processor performing thegenerative analysis described herein.

In some embodiments, the functional requirements may be represented inthe accessed floor plan. For example, the floor plan may include textualinformation or metadata identifying functional requirements that applyto one or more rooms or areas of the floor plan. The functionalrequirements may be represented by identifiers or other short-formrepresentations. These identifiers may be correlated with more detailedfunctional requirements, which may be stored in a data structure, atable, or other format. In some embodiments, the functional requirementsmay be represented graphically in the floor plan. For example, thedisclosed methods may include associating color indicators withfunctional requirements. Accordingly, the functional requirements may becolorized on the floor plan with respective ones of the color indicators(e.g., by color-coded markers, colored regions of the floor plan,colored outlines, or any other means of color indications). Thefunctional requirements may be represented in the floor plans by otherfeatures, including shading, patterns (e.g., stripes, dots, or otherfill patterns), outlines, or any other forms of graphicalrepresentations.

In some embodiments, a functional requirement may describe a minimal ormaximal performance of the system for a given task. For example, thefunctional requirement may define a minimum coverage area for a room.The coverage area may be based on a sensor (e.g., a camera, a proximitysensor, a smoke detector, motion detector, sound sensor, heat detector,LIDAR, Radar, or any other form of sensor configured to receiveinformation within a defined area), a communications or network device(e.g., a Bluetooth™ device, a Wi-Fi access point, indoor positioningsystem, ultrawideband tracker, BLE beacon, RFID sensor, infraredtransmitter/receiver, NFC transmitter/receiver, or any other form ofinformation transmitting device), a fire suppressant system (e.g., asprinkler coverage area, a foam fire suppressant, etc.), a leakdetector, a temperature or humidity sensor, or any other form of deviceassociated with a predetermined coverage area. In some embodiments, thefunctional requirement may define a certain level of lighting, soundpressure, air flow or electrical power provided to a room or certainarea within a room. In some embodiments, the functional requirement maybe rule-based. For example, the functional requirement may define a rulethat an access panel must be placed next to each exit door. In someembodiments, the rules may be conditional. For example, a rule maydefine placement of a piece of equipment based on whether a condition istriggered (e.g., “if the room contains an exterior door, a cameracoverage area must include the exterior door,” or similar conditionalrules).

The functional requirement may be specific to a particular room within afloor plan, or may apply to multiple rooms. Accordingly, each roomwithin a floor plan may have a different set of functional requirementsthat apply. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments may include receivingdifferent functional requirements for the at least one first room andthe at least second room. In some embodiments, different types offunctional requirements (for example defining noise level and cameracoverage requirements) can be applied to the same room or area.

The type of a functional requirement may be specific to the type ofsystem, sensor, or component to which it is applied. For example, afunctional requirement from a lighting system may be to provide at least500 lux to a room. A functional requirement from a CCTV system may be toprovide enough pixel density and/or resolution to identify the face of aperson. A functional requirement from a Building Management System (BMS)may be to cover all office desks with occupancy sensor coverage in orderto detect occupancy status of a given desk or occupancy levels of agiven work area. A functional requirement from an electrical system maybe to distribute power according to a standard, code or regulation to avariety of equipment located inside a plurality of room such aselectrical outlets, lighting fixtures, office equipment, and airconditioning units. A functional requirement from aheating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) system may be to provide arequired air flow and ventilation for a specific room occupancy. Afunctional requirement for a voice evacuation system may be a level forSpeech Intelligibility (STI) and sound pressure in DB (SPL). Afunctional requirement from an access control system may be to fit allexit doors with keypads. A functional requirement from a fire safetysystem may be to protect all doors leading to escape corridors withsmoke detectors, or to provide alarm initiating devices within a certaindistance from all rooms. These functional requirements are provided byway of example, and the present disclosure is not limited to anyparticular functional requirement.

Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments may include receiving a pluralityof functional requirements for the at least one first room and/or the atleast one second room. In some embodiments, different types orcategories of functional requirements may be associated with a givenroom or area. Accordingly, the disclosed methods may include receivingat least two different functional requirement types for the at least onefirst room or the at least one second room. In some instances, the twodifferent functional requirements may be for different systems (e.g., 1functional requirement related to an HVAC system and 1 for a WiFisystem). In other instances, the two different functional requirementsmay relate to a common a system (e.g. 1 functional requirement for alighting lux level, and 1 functional requirement for lightingcontroller). In such cases, the generative analysis process for thefirst functional requirement and the selected technical specificationand placement location may be used as an input for the generativeanalysis process for the second functional requirement (e.g., receivingthe selected light fixture technical specifications and locationsassociated with the first functional requirement as an input for thegenerative analysis process for the second functional requirement inorder to select a technical specification for lighting controllerscompatible the selected lighting fixture technical specifications).Accordingly, the disclosed methods may include receiving at least twodifferent functional requirement types for the at least one first roomor the at least one second room. In many instances, these differentfunctional requirements may be nonconflicting, such that each can besatisfied by placement and specification of equipment within the room.In some instances, two or more functional requirements may conflict witheach other. For example, a zone or area within a floor plan may have afirst functional requirement, and a room within the zone or area mayhave a different functional requirement that defines the same parametersas the first functional requirement. In such instances, the disclosedembodiments may include determining which functional requirement toapply. For example, a portion of a floor plan may have a requirement tomaintain camera coverage in all areas to track or identify persons, butthis requirement may be superseded by a functional requirement to avoidcamera coverage for privacy in a bathroom within that portion of thefloor plan. Thus, functional requirements may include rules forresolving conflicting functional requirements. In other instances, forexample, a functional requirement for fire suppression sprinklers maysupersede a functional requirement for smoke detector coverage based ona code, regulation, or standard. In some embodiments, the generativeanalysis of two different functional requirements may be runsequentially. In other embodiments, they may be run simultaneously. Forexample, in some embodiments, a generative analysis process may firstselect and place light fixtures, and then run another process to selectand place compatible light switches with the light fixtures. As anotherexample, a generative analysis process may select and place firesprinklers to conform to a first a functional requirement forwater-based fire suppression. When running a sequential generativeanalysis for a second functional requirement for coverage a of a roomwith smoke detectors, it may be determined that smoke detectors are notrequired due to the presence of fire sprinklers. This determination maybe according to a rule, code or regulation, and/or a standard.

In some embodiments, the functional requirement may be based on inputfrom a user, as noted above. Accordingly, at least one of the firstfunctional requirement or the second functional requirement may bedefined by a user. For example, the user may define the functionalrequirement through a user interface, which may be configured to receivefunctional requirements and other parameters through various inputfields and/or controls. In this context, a user may be any individual ororganization that may interact with the disclosed systems, which mayinclude providing input to the system and/or receiving outputsassociated with the system. For example, a user may include, anarchitect, a designer, a manager or supervisor (e.g., a plant manager,etc.), a homeowner, a technician, or any other individual who may definefunctional requirements for a system. Similarly, at least one of thefirst functional requirement or the second functional requirement may beapplied by a user. For example, the generative analysis based on thefunctional requirement, as described in detail below, may be initiatedby a user through a user interface or by other means. The functionalrequirements may be applied using, for example, text, a mouse pointer,or a touch sensitive interface, a drop down list, by rules defined by auser, by the use of an actionable index, among many other methods. Forexample, list of functional requirements, which may be associated withan index, may be presented as a drop-down menu, enabling a user toselect one or more functional requirements to be applied to one or morerooms. The list may also be displayed as a series of checkboxes or radiobuttons, a series of selectable items, or any other display enabling auser to select one or more rooms. In some embodiments, some or all ofthe index itself may be displayed. For example, a user may select one ormore rooms from a table or other representation of the index. Technicalspecifications may be similarly applied by users to rooms and/orassociated with functional requirements. Such actionable indexes aredescribed in greater detail below.

Disclosed embodiments may further include generatively analyzing roomsto identify technical specifications and/or placement locations forequipment based on a functional requirement. For example, embodimentsmay include generatively analyzing the at least one first room inconjunction with a first functional requirement to identify a firsttechnical specification and a first equipment placement location inorder to at least partially conform to the first functional requirement.Similarly, the method may include generatively analyzing the at leastone second room in conjunction with a second functional requirement toidentify a second technical specification and a second equipmentplacement location order to at least partially conform to the secondfunctional requirement.

As used herein, equipment may refer to any piece of electronic, mechanicor any other type of hardware, device, machinery, cabinetry, orfurniture that has a function and a technical specification. Consistentwith the present disclosure, equipment may include but is not limited tosensors (including, for example, CCTV cameras, IR sensors, thermostats,motion detectors, occupancy sensors, smoke detectors, heat detectors,thermal detectors, glass break detectors, door contacts, windowcontacts, or other sensors), output devices (e.g., audio speakers,strobes, alarms, amplifiers, lighting fixtures, IR illuminators, or anyother devices that may produce an output), network devices (e.g., WI-FIrouters, WI-FI Access Points, edge switches, core switches, accessswitches, Bluetooth routers, patch panels, etc.), controllers (e.g.,light switches, access control panel, smart house touchscreens andkeypads, etc.), electrical devices (e.g., including generators,uninterruptable power devices (UPS), distribution boards, transformers,breakers, power sockets and outlets, electrical wiring, cable trays,conduits, or any other equipment related to power or communications),lighting controllers (e.g., relay modules, dimming modules, dimmingswitches, or any other devices for controlling lighting), HVAC equipment(e.g., air intake and output vents, AC units, fan coil units, variableair flow handlers, chillers, heaters, fans, etc.), plumbing fixtures(e.g., sprinklers, drains, etc.), display devices (e.g., televisions,monitors, projectors, projection screens, etc.), furniture (e.g.,kitchen cabinetry, closet cabinetry, seats, tables, space dividers,beds, sofas, etc.), appliances (e.g., computers, refrigerators,dishwashers, washing machines, drying machines, etc.), cabinetry (e.g.,kitchen cabinetry, closet cabinetry, enclosed spaces with doors,drawers, and/or shelves, wooden cabinets, metal cabinets, and/or anyother cabinets), or any other object having a technical function in aroom. It is to be understood that various other equipment may beincluded and the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the examplesprovided herein.

As used herein, a technical specification for a piece of equipment mayrefer to any means of identifying the equipment and/or any attributes ofthe equipment. For example, the technical specification may include amodel identifier (e.g., a specific manufacturer model number or series,a model name, or any other means for identifying a particular model), anequipment class (e.g. Outdoor WI-FI Access Point, Long Range AccessPoint, Infrared Motion Sensor with 90 Degree Coverage, Modular KitchenCabinets), or any other means for specifying a piece of equipment. Insome embodiments, the technical specification can also include one ormore technical characteristics of the equipment. A technicalcharacteristic may include one or more properties of a piece ofequipment that may not necessarily be related to any specific model. Forexample, a technical characteristic may include properties such asmounting device type, resolution, decibel rating, luminosity, IR rating,lens type, network speed, voltage, wattage, power consumption,conductivity, antenna type, communication protocol, color, dimensions,material, flammability rating, environmental rating, water-resistancerating, or any other property of a piece of equipment. In someembodiments the first technical specification and the second technicalspecification may be different. For example, the disclosed embodimentsmay include specifying different equipment for placement in the firstroom and the second room. In other embodiments, the first technicalspecification and the second technical specification may be the same.

In some embodiments, a set of technical specifications may be stored ina data structure such as a database or other memory device. A datastructure consistent with the present disclosure may include anycollection of data values and relationships among them. The data may bestored linearly, horizontally, hierarchically, relationally,non-relationally, uni-dimensionally, multidimensionally, operationally,in an ordered manner, in an unordered manner, in an object-orientedmanner, in a centralized manner, in a decentralized manner, in adistributed manner, in a custom manner, or in any manner enabling dataaccess. By way of non-limiting examples, data structures may include anarray, an associative array, a linked list, a binary tree, a balancedtree, a heap, a stack, a queue, a set, a hash table, a record, a taggedunion, ER model, and a graph. For example, a data structure may includean XML database, an RDBMS database, an SQL database or NoSQLalternatives for data storage/search such as, for Example, mongodb,Redis, Couchbase, Datastax Enterprise Graph, Elastic Search, Splunk,Solr, Cassandra, Amazon dynamodb, Scylla, hbase, and Neo4J. A datastructure may be a component of the disclosed system or a remotecomputing component (e.g., a cloud-based data structure). Data in thedata structure may be stored in contiguous or non-contiguous memory.Moreover, a data structure, as used herein, does not require informationto be co-located. It may be distributed across multiple servers, forexample, that may be owned or operated by the same or differententities. Thus, the term “data structure” as used herein in the singularis inclusive of plural data structures.

In these embodiments, identifying the technical specification (e.g., thefirst technical specification or second technical specification) mayinclude retrieving the technical specification from a prestored datastructure. The data can contain textual, tabular, numeric or imageinformation which describes the equipment. The data associated with apiece of equipment may contain its model, type, brand, series, priceinformation, specific technical characteristics or properties (such a IRrating or weather resistance), a technical specification, a physicaldescription or a picture of the object, or any other informationrelating to the equipment. The data may be accessible using a simplequery, such as “get camera #33,” or complex queries, such as “get themodel numbers of all manufacturer TBDH cameras.” The data can be enteredmanually into the data structure or imported from a different format. Aprestored data structure may refer to any type of data that is notentered by a user during the current operations, but that is storedbefore the fact. The data may be uploaded previously by a user in aprevious session, stored by a software designer, uploaded from adifferent data structure or automatically, derived via an algorithm, orany other means for creating and storing the data.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure may further include accessinga data structure containing a list of equipment models and theirassociated technical specifications. The data structure may include alist of technical specifications that may be identified using thedisclosed embodiments. The data structure may further link the technicalspecifications to particular functional requirements, particular floorplans, particular rooms, particular equipment models, or othervariables. Identifying the first technical specification and a firstequipment placement location may be based on the list. For example,identifying the technical specification may include determining whichtechnical specification is applicable based on the data structure.

In some embodiments, the technical specification may be defined alongwith the functional requirement. For example, the disclosed methods mayfurther include receiving a technical specification along with thefunctional requirement for generative analyzing the at least one firstroom (and/or the at least one second room). Association of technicalspecifications with a functional requirement may be a constraint in thegenerative analysis process. For example, the technical specification ofspecific series of sensors may be defined along with the functionalrequirement. This specific series of sensors may have a certain range oflens rotation which may limit the range of lens rotations simulationsduring an optimization process. As another example, the technicalspecification of specific model or plurality of models of Bluetooth™beacons, which may only be wall-mountable, may limit the sampling pointsduring an optimization process to those points located on or inproximity to walls. In other examples, a technical characteristic (e.g.antenna range, weatherproof rating, form factor, etc.) may be definedalong with the functional requirement. A technical specificationassociated with a functional requirement may be a generic specificationcompromised of one or more technical characteristics (e.g. 6 megapixel,IP66) and/or may contain a specific manufacturer and/or series and/ormodel. Accordingly, at least a portion of the technical specificationsfor a piece of equipment to be located in the room may be predefined. Inthese embodiments, identifying the first technical specification and/orthe second technical specification may include providing additionalparameters for the equipment not identified in the received technicalspecification, or outputting the received technical specification.

As noted above, the generative analysis may be used to identify anequipment placement location. The placement location for a piece ofequipment may include a suggested location within the floor plan wherethe equipment may be positioned. In some embodiments, the placementlocation may refer to a single point or location within the room. Forexample, the point or location may represent a center point, a cornerpoint, an edge point, or any other point associated with the piece ofequipment. Accordingly, the location may be represented in the form of Xand Y coordinates in relation to the floor plan (e.g., an overallcoordinate system of the floor plan, a coordinate system for the roombeing analyzed, or any other form of coordinate system). The locationmay also include orientation information for the equipment. For example,the location may include a center point or location and a facingdirection or other directional information of the equipment (e.g.,represented in degrees, compass direction, or other formats). In someembodiments, the location may be represented as a plurality of points ora position of a reference feature (e.g., a distance from the bottom of asensor to the floor; a distance from a side of a sensor to a windowedge). If points are used for location, the points may define thecorners of the piece of equipment and thus may also define theorientation. The location may also be represented as a symbol, shape orvector within the floor plan. For example, the location may represent anoutline of the equipment, an overall footprint of the equipment, a spacerequired for operation of the equipment (e.g., including space for anoperator to stand, a space to account for movement of machinery, etc.),or any other graphical representation of the location. In someembodiments, the location may also include height information (e.g.,represented in Z coordinates), which may include the overall height ofthe equipment, an installation height, or other height information.

As noted above, the first technical specification and the firstequipment location may be identified based on a generative analysis. Asused herein, generative analysis may include any process that iscyclical, iterative and/or selects a solution from a group ofalternative options. Such a process may converge on a solution or mayinvolve simulating a series of options to arrive at a preferred option.This may occur using a computational device configured to perform one ormore of geometric, mathematical, physical, or other analysis. In someembodiments, generative analysis may include implementing an algorithm,which may include (but is not limited to) any of a large class ofalgorithms such as rule-based design, heuristics, L-systems, geneticalgorithms, evolutionary algorithms, model-based solvers, machinelearning models, decision trees, random forests, artificial intelligencemethods, simulated annealing, or any other forms of analyticaltechniques. For example, the generative analysis may includeimplementing a machine learning algorithm trained to identify technicalspecifications and placement locations based on a training set of floorplans that partially comply with a particular functional requirement. Insome embodiments, the algorithm may be iteratively implemented until aperformance criterion is satisfied. Generative analysis may use anoptimization process to arrive at a solution. In some cases, generativeanalysis may use rule based design to arrive at a solution. In somecases, the rules may be conditional or adaptive based on the functionalrequirement or room, area or zone to which they are applied. Forexample, a rule may be to place smoke detectors according to a certainspacing and with a certain percentage overlap in a given area only if nosprinkler fire suppression system is identified.

A solution in this context may including placing a piece of equipment ina way that satisfies the demands of functional requirements orspecifications. Further, a solution may include identifying the type,brand, or model of a piece of equipment that partially conforms to afunctional requirement. A solution may include determining settings,configurations, or parameters of a piece of equipment. In the context ofgenerative analysis, a solution to one or more equipment simulations mayinclude determining a technical specification, an identifier of a pieceof equipment, an equipment model identifier, an equipment placementlocation, a setting, a technical detail, a technical characteristic, acustomized setting, a programming parameter or any other aspect of afloor plan or equipment. Further, a solution may include informationdescribing a simulation that met a performance criterion based onfunctional requirements used as targets of a simulation.

In some embodiments, generative analysis may include analyzing one ormore inputs associated with a room to determine equipment placementlocations and technical specifications consistent with a functionalrequirement. A generative analysis may use a variety of input dataincluding: room geometric and architectural features such as area,volume, ceiling height, number of boundary segments, boundarycomplexity, number and locations of doors, number and locations ofwindows, obstacles such as columns and shafts, furniture such as desks,chairs and tables, topological connections, adjacent rooms and areas,room name, room function, the level of a building the room is locatedin, the zone the room is part of, and any other data related to rooms,architectural features, and equipment. The data may also include datarelating rooms and equipment to other rooms or equipment. For example,the data may refer to the distance between a piece of equipment in aroom and the nearest exit point, the distance between a piece ofequipment to a corridor, or to an equipment room, head-end or electricalpanel. A generative analysis may also consider equipment technicalspecifications and functional requirements, both within rooms andoutside of them. This analysis may seek to avoid duplicating equipment,avoid code and compliance issues, fix clashing locations, and harmonizetechnical specifications or manufacturers across all rooms in a givenlevel or a project.

These characteristics may serve as constraints for selection andplacement of the equipment in conjunction with the functionalrequirements. For example, these values may be used as inputs in one ormore of the algorithms described above to determine the technicalspecifications and equipment placement locations. For example, in thecase a functional requirement for thermostat controller for a room isreceived, an input of a technical specification of a fan-coil unit maybe used by the generative analysis process to identify thermostattechnical specifications compatible with the fan-coil units. In someembodiments, inputs of a room other than the one being generativelyanalyzed may be used as part of the process. For example, the distanceof an egress point in a hallway to the room being analyzed may be usedas an input to determine a placement location for an alarm initiatingdevice, which may have maximum allowable distance from an egress point.

In some embodiments, the analysis of equipment or geometric andarchitectural features may also include analysis of other rooms outsidethe at least one first room. This may include, for example, determiningthe distance between a piece of equipment in the at least first room andthe nearest exit point, the distance between a piece of equipment to acorridor, the distance to an equipment room, head-end or electricalpanel, or other parameters that may depend on information outside of thefirst room. For example, the distance of an egress point in a hallway tothe room being analyzed may be used as an input in the determination ofplacement location for an alarm initiating device which may have maximumallowable distance from an egress point. As another non-limitingexample, the identification of an electrical panelboard in an equipmentroom along with its associated technical characteristics may be used asinputs in selecting electrical devices for the at least first room. Insome embodiments, the generative analysis process may place and selectequipment outside the demarcations of the at least first room. As anon-limiting example, a functional requirement may be applied to the atleast first room to provide access control to the room. A topologicalanalysis executed as part of the generative analysis process mayidentify a series of doors in other rooms which provide access to the atleast first room, and determine placement of an access control device atone door protects the greatest number of rooms, including the at leastfirst room, and the lowest cost. optimal placement of an access controldevice to secure entry to the at least one room.

Further, as described above, in some embodiments, more than onefunctional requirement may apply to a particular room. Accordingly, thegenerative analysis may identify technical specifications and equipmentplacement locations based on multiple functional requirements. Forexample, the disclosed embodiments may include receiving a thirdfunctional requirement for the at least one first room, and generativelyanalyzing the at least one first room may further include using thethird functional requirement to identify the first technicalspecification and first equipment placement location. In instances wherethe functional requirements conflict with each other, the generativeanalysis may include selecting which functional requirement toprioritize. For example, the generative analysis may includeprioritizing a more stringent requirement, prioritizing based on abuilding hierarchy of building, levels, zones, and rooms in whichsmaller constituent groups such as rooms prioritize over large groupssuch as zones or levels, prioritizing functional requirements based on apredefined priority ranking, prioritizing user-defined functionalrequirements over default requirements, prioritizing based on codes,standards or regulations, or any other basis of prioritizing.

Similarly, the generative analysis may include applying different typesof functional requirements to the same room. For example, the disclosedembodiments may further include receiving a third functional requirementfor the at least one first room, the third functional requirement havinga different type than the first functional requirement. The system maybe configured to generatively analyze the at least one first room inconjunction with the third functional requirement, the first identifiedtechnical specification, and the first equipment placement location toidentify a third technical specification and a third equipment placementlocation in order to at least partially conform to the third functionalrequirement. Accordingly, the third technical specification and thirdequipment placement location may account for the additional type offunctional requirement. The different types may refer to differentsystems associated with the room, such as a functional requirementrelating to an HVAC system and a functional requirement relating to aWi-Fi network. The system may output the third technical specificationand the third equipment placement location in an associative manner withthe at least the first room, as discussed in greater detail below. Thefunctional requirements may be associated with related systems (e.g.electrical system and lighting system) or unrelated (e.g. Bluetoothbeacons and plumbing).

In some embodiments, the generative analysis may be an iterativeanalysis including a series of simulations, which may also be referredto as an optimization. Accordingly, generatively analyzing the at leastone first room may include a series of simulations including one or moreanalyses of differing equipment placement locations. In this type ofprocess, a first solution may be posited and then the performance of thesolution may be tested by running a simulation. An optimization enginemay then repeat this process a plurality of times, trying differentsolutions and attempts to improve the performance using one of manyavailable optimization algorithms. An optimization process may usegeneric technical specifications of devices (e.g. a technicalcharacteristic of various fields of view of sensors) in order toidentify an optimal generic technical specification for the piece ofequipment. Once a generic specification has been identified (e.g.horizontal field of view of 40 degrees, and vertical field of view of 60degrees), the generative analysis process may then seek the closet matchto the generic technical specification within a database containing aplurality of technical specifications including equipment models. If aplurality of equivalent equipment models (or close to equivalentequipment models) are found in relation to the generic technicalspecification, the lowest cost model may be selected. The selected modelmay have identifiable, slightly varied, or entirely different technicalcharacteristics to the generic technical specification. Anothersimulation may then be performed on the identified model, for example,to simulate its precise performance. In some embodiments, anoptimization process may, for example, run a series of simulations aplurality of specific models of equipment rather than using generictechnical specifications. For example, the algorithms may includegenetic algorithms, annealing algorithms, particle swam optimization,machine learning based, or other optimization-based algorithms. Thegenerative analysis may include generating several additional solutionsand comparing the performances of each solution to select the bestperforming solution. The optimizations may be deterministic, such thatthe algorithms fully define system outputs based on system inputs, orstochastic, such that the algorithms possess some inherent randomness.The optimization may be configured, for example, to analyze single ormultiple parameters, and can be local or global optimization.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example optimization processfor identifying technical specifications and equipment locations,consistent with the disclosed embodiments. FIG. 1 is shown for purposesof illustration only and is not limiting of the embodiments. AlthoughFIG. 1 depicts certain floor plans, optimization phases, and solutions,embodiments include different optimization processes with different,more, or fewer floor plans, phases, or solutions. Further, FIG. 1presents non-limiting, exemplary coverage regions whose proportions andboundaries are illustrative only, and not intended to accurately reflectactual coverage area.

In an initial stage 110, an objective associated with a room 112 to beachieved using generative analysis may be defined. The objective may bebased on a functional requirement associated with room 112, as describedabove. In the example depicted in FIG. 1, the objective may beassociated with placement of a camera 114 and a functional requirementmay require coverage region 116 of camera 114 to be maximized. Coverageregion 116 may represent a field of view visible using camera 114.Additional functional requirements associated with room 112 may also beidentified, such as a particular model or property of camera 144, arequirement that camera 114 be placed along a wall of room 112, arequirement that a bottom right portion of room 112 be included incoverage region 116, or various other requirements.

In stage 120, the generative analysis may run a plurality of simulations122, 124 and 126 representing different option for placement of camera114. The initial simulations may be generated randomly (e.g., withrandom placements of camera 114 according to the functionalrequirements), or according to an algorithm, as described above. Each ofthe simulations 122, 124, and 126 may then be assessed with respect tothe functional requirements. For example, the generative analysis maydetermine that simulation 124 results in a coverage region 116representing 65% of room 112, as shown in FIG. 1. In stage 130, thegenerative analysis may include running additional simulations 132, 134,and 136 based on one or more of the simulations from stage 120. Forexample, the generative analysis may include selecting the simulation instage 120 with the greatest coverage (i.e. simulation 122) and runningslight variations in stage 130. In the current example, the variationsmay include different camera models or properties, different cameraangles, different camera heights, or any other variations that mayaffect coverage. In some embodiments, stage 130 may include variationsof other simulations from stage 120. For example, stage 130 may also runadditional simulation on any simulations from stage 120 that exceed athreshold conformance, a predefined number of top simulations (e.g., top5, top 10, etc.), a predefined top percentage of simulations (e.g., top10% of simulations based on coverage percentage, etc.), or various othermetrics.

In stage 140, the generative analysis may determine an optimal solutionwhich, in this example, may represent the maximum coverage percentage of85%. This optimal solution may be output as a result of the generativeanalysis, as described in greater detail below. For example, the outputmay include a technical specification for camera 114 and a suggestedlocation for camera 114 that maximizes coverage region 116 and at leastpartially complies with the functional requirements. While FIG. 1 showstwo stages of simulations (120 and 130), it is understood that anynumber of iterations or simulations may be performed as part of anoptimized analysis, consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, the system may be configured to re-test thebest alternatives to hone in on the optimal solution.

Further, while an optimization process is shown in FIG. 1, generativeanalysis may not always include an optimization and may include acalculation or more concrete analysis. In some embodiments thegenerative analysis may apply a rule-based functional requirement forselecting and placing equipment. In this context, a rule may include anylogical relationship defining a functional requirement or how afunctional requirement should be applied. For example, the generativeanalysis may include placing an access reader on each door face thatexits to a corridor, placing a piece of equipment where there is atleast a certain tolerance of space (e.g. 10 cm on either of theequipment), placing light switches to the side of a bed and at theentrance to rooms, placing power sockets next to desks, spacingequipment at specified distances with a specified overlap, or variousother forms of analysis that may be defined by a functional requirement.In some embodiments, the rule may be a logical construct of the type “ifA then B” used to create a cause and effect relationship in thecomputational design process just like plain human language would. Forexample, the rule may state “if a room has a urinal it is a toilet,” orany other logical relationship. In some embodiments, the rule mayinclude including negative limitations, such as “don't place a camerawith a field of view encompassing a toilet stall” or compositelimitations, such as “place a camera on every door that leads to astairway and is numbered 3.” In some embodiments, the construct of therule may reference or use architectural features, technicalspecifications, equipment as inputs such as, for example, “in room areasgreater than 100 square feet, provide sounders with a minimum decibelrating of 88 DB,” “if rooms has a functional requirement for accesscontrol devices and if the room has a plurality of doors, cover the doorleading to a corridor with a sensor,” “if a room has fan-coil unit, thenplace a thermostat with a preference for a placement location adjacentto other controllers,” “if a room has an occupancy greater than 10people, then cover work stations with occupancy sensors,” and “if a roomhas a lux level above 400, then connect its lighting fixtures to adimming system,” or any other form of rule that may be applied.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example rule-based generative analyses thatmay be performed, consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 2A, a functional requirement may define a rule210 requiring access panels to be placed next to all doors leading toexits from a floor. The access panel may allow access to electricalequipment installed in the wall, such as a security device allowingentry to the floor, or other equipment. A generative analysis may beused to determine a technical specification and/or location of theaccess panels in conjunction with the functional requirement. As aninitial step, a processor performing the generative analysis may accessa floor plan 220. The floor plan may be represented as a CAD file (e.g.,a DWG) file, a BIM file (e.g., an IFC file) or any other floor planformat as described above. The generative analysis may include detectinga plurality of doors 221, 222, 223, and 224 represented in floor plan220. In some embodiments, doors 221-224 may be identified based onsemantic analysis metadata included in or associated with floor plan220. For example, floor plan 220 may include object property dataidentifying doors 221-224 as doors. In other embodiments, doors 221-224may be identified based on a shape or other representation (e.g., text,or other information) within floor plan 220. For example, the generativeanalysis may include a geometric, artificial intelligence, or imageprocessing algorithm configured to detect a typical representation of adoor in an image file and designate it as a door.

The generative analysis may further include identifying exits, such asexit 231 and exit 232. Exits 231 and 232 may be identified based ondoors 221-224. For example, each of doors 221-224 may be analyzed todetermine whether they lead to an exterior portion of floor. This mayinclude accessing properties of adjacent rooms (e.g., room types, orother information) to determine where the doors lead. For example, door221 may be determined to lead to a stairway identified by means ofsemantic analysis, topological analysis, or machine learning methods andthus may be identified as exit 231. Similarly, door 224 may bedetermined, suing semantic analysis or topological analysis, to lead toan exterior of the building, and thus may be identified as exit 232.

Based on the identified exits 231 and 231, the generative analysis mayinclude identifying access panels 241 and 242 that must be placed infloor plan 220. The generative analysis may further include determininglocations for access panels 241 and 242 next to doors 221 and 224 basedon rule 210. This may also account for other functional requirementsrelated to the access panels, such as requirements specifying a spacingfrom the doors, sizing parameters, height requirements, or various otherfunctional requirements.

As yet another example, a functional requirement may include a rule 250specifying that each point in a room must be no further than 3 m from asmoke detector, as shown in FIG. 2B. Accordingly, a generative analysismay be performed to determine a placement of smoke detectors 260. Thegenerative analysis may assume a coverage of 3 meters (m) for each smokedetector based on a technical specification, as shown by circle 262.Based on this coverage, the analysis may determine a spacing distance,D, which may prevent gaps in coverage of the smoke detectors. Thespacing may be applied in multiple directions (e.g., in X and Ydirections), and may be applied to an entire room 270. Accordingly, thegenerative analysis may result in placement of smoke detectors withinroom 270 to meet rule 250, as shown in FIG. 2B.

In some embodiments, generative analysis may consider equipmenttechnical specifications and functional requirements outside of the roombeing analyzed. This analysis may seek to avoid duplicating of equipmentand unnecessary equipment, code and compliance issues, clashinglocations, and harmonization of technical specifications ormanufacturers across all rooms in a given level or a project.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the generative analysismay account for other variables, such as user inputs, when determiningthe equipment placement locations and technical specifications. The userinputs may include any constraints or other parameters in addition tothe functional requirements that may inform the generative analysisresults. In some embodiments, these inputs may be enforced strictly, inwhich the generative analysis will not consider solutions that do notsatisfy the user inputs. In other embodiments, the inputs may bepreferences, and the generative analysis may weigh solutions thatsatisfy the inputs more favorably than those that do not. In someembodiments, the user may define a preferred area for equipmentplacement, and identifying the first technical specification and firstequipment placement location may be based on the preferred area. Apreferred area may include any demarcation of a certain part of a spacein which there is an advantage to place a piece of equipment.Accordingly, the generative analysis may favor simulations that resultin placement of equipment in the preferred area. Conversely, the usermay define an undesirable area for equipment placement, and identifyingthe first technical specification and first equipment placement locationmay be based on the undesirable area. Accordingly, the generativeanalysis may favor simulations that result in placement of equipmentoutside of the undesirable area. A preferred or undesirable area may bedemarcated using a rectangle, a polygon, a line or a point in 2D or 3Dspace. These areas may be predefined within the floor plan itself, ormay be input separately by a user for example, by drawing regions on thefloor plan through a user interface. In some embodiments, the preferredor undesirable areas may be based on one or more rules. Accordingly, thepreferred or undesirable areas may be tie to particular features, suchas within a doorway, on a column, along an exterior wall, piece offurniture, another piece of equipment, or other more general areadefinitions. For example, the rule may define a bathroom as anundesirable area for a camera, or an office as a preferred area for aWi-Fi access point, or an room in which there are overhead pipes and/orwet fire suppression sprinklers an undesirable area for an electricalpanel or equipment rack.

In accordance with the present disclosure, disclosed embodiments mayfurther include identifying obstructions in the floor plan usinggeometric analysis. Identifying the first equipment placement locationmay be based on an identified obstruction. As used herein, anobstruction may include an object or architectural feature that maypartially or fully block the line of sight of a piece of equipment,including equipment considered during a simulation. An obstruction mayprevent equipment from viewing a part of a room or from being physicallylocated in an area of the obstruction. The obstruction can be of anyheight up to and above a ceiling level of a room. The obstruction caninclude permanent objects or objects that are movable. As describedabove, the geometric analysis for identifying the obstruction mayinclude any form of analysis for extracting information from a floorplan based on geometries represented in the floor plan. For example, thegeometric analysis may include searching for lines, curves, or otherfeatures in the floor plan that may represent an obstruction, such as acolumn, or other form of obstruction. The generative analysis mayaccount for obstructions when determining coverage areas for equipmentand may determine the equipment placement locations based on theidentification of the obstruction. For example, a camera may bepositioned such that a column does not occlude an object, such as adoor, from the view of the camera.

In some embodiments, identifying the at least one equipmentspecification may include a weighting of a cost function. A weightedcost function may provide a means to aggregate several goals into oneoptimization process, and a weighted cost function may have a numericgoal. More generally, a cost function and a weighted cost function maybe any form of equation designed to account for multiple goals inreaching a solution. For example, a weighted cost function to determineperformance (P) may be:P=Σ _(i=1) ^(n) a _(i) x _(i),  (1)where each xi is a score associated with objective i for n objectivesand the coefficients ai are weights. Scores may include a cost score, acoverage score, or other score associated a design goal. Scores andweights may be by any positive or negative real numbers. In someexamples, weights may be predetermined based on stored data.Alternatively, or additionally, weights may be determined based on anoptimization process that includes feedback received after generatingsolutions that consider multiple types of scores, such as a machinelearning process. In one non-limiting example of an optimization processto improve coverage while minimizing cost by weighting a cost score moreheavily than a coverage score, P may be calculated as:P=1×(coverage score)+2×(cost score).  (2)

In this example, the generative analysis places a weight of 2 onminimizing cost and a weight of 1 on coverage. In some embodiments, theweights may be default or other predetermined weights for the system. Insome embodiments, the weights may be set by a user. For example, someembodiments may include receiving a user input varying the weighting ofthe cost function.

In some embodiments, the functional requirements may be adaptive. Inother words, the technical specification may according to the context ofthe equipment with which it is associated. Examples of adaptivetechnical specifications may include “place a strobe next to all doors,unless there is a sounder next to the door, in which case do nothing” or“place a camera looking at all doors with a certain pixel density,unless the doors lead to an exit—and then use a different pixeldensity.” In some embodiments, the technical specifications may beadaptive. The technical specifications may be adaptive, for example,according to the context of the functional requirement, and/or technicalspecifications of other pieces of equipment, and/or the room, the roomfunction, area, zone, or building. Examples may include providing awaterproof power socket in a bathroom, an electrical enclosures of acertain size based on the number of breakers required to be housedinside of it, a thermostat with programmable features suitable for ahotel guestroom, a distribution electrical panel with characteristicscompatible with the main distribution panel inside a building, or anaccess point with a higher number of concurrent users based on itsplacement inside a room with a room function of multi-occupant office asopposed to single person office room function. Technical specificationsmay also be adapative based on the geographic location of the buildingrepresented in the floor plan. In other words, technical specificationmay change according to the location simulated. For example, a powersocket type, a voltage requirement, or applicable code or standard maychange depending on the country in which the equipment is located.Accordingly, the technical specification may include a data structure orother data format linking a plurality of geographic locations to arespective set of technical parameters.

Disclosed embodiments may further include outputting technicalspecifications and placement locations for the equipment. For example,embodiments may include outputting the first technical specification andthe first equipment placement location in an associative manner with theat least the first room, and outputting the second technicalspecification and the second equipment placement location in anassociative manner with the at least the second room. As used herein, anoutput may be any form of graphical depiction of equipment location ortypes. Such an output may result from a generative analysis process. Theoutput may be overlaid on the floor plan to indicate identifiedequipment locations. In some embodiments, generating the output mayinclude modifying the floor plan to include the equipment locations andtechnical specification. For example, where the floor plan isrepresented as a CAD, vector architectural file (e.g., a DWG file, orsimilar CAD file), or BIM file, the output may include modifying thefile to include additional shape data representing the equipmentlocations and technical specifications or modifying the BIM object datarepresenting the equipment location and technical specifications.Accordingly, embodiments may include populating a CAD and BIM formatarchitectural file with the first equipment placement location and firsttechnical specification. In embodiments where the floor plan is an imagefile, such as a JPG, or a vector image file, such as a PDF, the outputmay include equipment locations represented as shapes or graphicalfeatures overlaid on the image.

As used herein, an “associative manner” may include any mannerindicating a logical pair of two or more entities of different types. Incontext of the present disclosure, an output associating the technicalspecification and equipment placement location with the room may be anyway of representing the technical specification and equipment placementlocation such that they are tied to a particular room. In someembodiments, this may include a graphical association, such asoverlaying the information on the floor plan. In some embodiments, theassociation may take the form of a logical pairing within an internaldatabase or code. For example, a table or database may contain a list ofrooms in the floor plan and associated equipment information. In someembodiments, one member of the pair may appear as a property in theother member's data. For example, the equipment placement locations ortechnical specifications may be included in property data of the roomwithin the floor plan.

In some embodiments, the output may include textual information inaddition to, or in place of, a graphical representation. For example,textual information may include information regarding the model,placement, price or parameters associated with the equipment. The textinformation may be included in a variety of forms, including a generatedtext document such as a Word® or .TXT document, a chart such as anExcel® spreadsheet, an image file such as a jpg, a vector image filesuch as a PDF, a vector architectural file such as DWG, and a BIM modelsuch as a RVT or IFC. In some embodiments the output may be anelectronic file, database or index containing information such asplacement information and/or technical specifications. Some embodimentsmay further include displaying a score evaluating the equipmentplacement location. In this context a score may indicate a numericappraisal of the performance of one or more pieces of equipment at acertain location. The score may indicate a degree of conformance to oneor more functional requirements, such as an amount of coverage of theequipment, a number of functional requirements that are conformed to, orother means of evaluating conformance to the functional requirements.The score may also take into account other factors, such as whetheruser-defined constraints were met (e.g., preferred placement areas,etc.), equipment cost, equipment availability, equipment size, equipmentnoise, energy consumption, or other parameters that may indicate thedesirability of the equipment placement location. The score may berepresented as a number on a scale (e.g., a score from 1-100, a scorefrom 1-10, etc.), a text-based grading scale (e.g., B+, Excellent,etc.), a percentage (e.g., percentage of conformance, percentage ofcoverage, etc.), or any other representation of how well the equipmentis placed.

In some embodiments, generating the outputs may include exporting afloor plan. This may include generating a version of the floor plan (forexample, in CAD, BIM PDF, or any other suitable electronic or imageformat) with at least some additional information regarding theplacement and description of equipment. The exported floor plan can berepresented either in 2D or 3D formats, depending on the export. Asdescribed above, the additions to the exported plans may include graphicrepresentations of equipment and/or textual semantic informationregarding these objects. In instances where the exported floor plan is aCAD file the equipment placement locations or other information may berepresented in separate linear entities, or may be aggregated intodrawing blocks. In instances where the exported floor plan is a BIMfile, the equipment locations or other information may take the shape ofBIM family instances or BIM objects, with 3D models and parametricinformation associated with them. The export file can merge and/or addthe new elements to the new file or can reconstruct a new floor planbased on the original floor plan with additional information. Anexported floor plan can be stored in a specified directory, transmittedvia an electronic communication (e.g., via an email, over a securenetwork connection, etc.), electronically transmitted to a third partysoftware application, or any other means for exporting data.

As described above, in some embodiments, the functional requirements maydefine a coverage requirement for a room or area. In these embodiments,outputting the first technical specification with the first equipmentmay include displaying a coverage map spatially indicating regionscovered by at least one of sensors, wireless emitters, Wi-Fi AccessPoints, Bluetooth™ beacons or speakers. As used herein, a coverage mapmay refer to a graphical representation depicting a coverage range of apiece of equipment. For example, a coverage map may include coverageareas for one or more pieces of equipment overlaid on a floor plan. Insome embodiments, a coverage map may indicate the field of view of acamera, the detection area of a smoke sensor, the range of a motionsensor, the area of effect of a sounding device (e.g., a speaker, analarm, or other sound emitting device), the range of a light (e.g., alight source, an indicator light, or any other light-emitting device),the effective range at which a Wi-Fi access point, Bluetooth™ beacon orother device can provide a wireless network, or any other functionalarea associated with a piece of equipment. In some embodiments, thecoverage map may be related to information regarding a functionalrequirement such as the field of view of a camera that provides acertain pixel resolution or the area in which an alarm sounder is heardat a certain decibel level.

Some embodiments may further include generating a material list ofequipment based on the generative analysis of the at least one firstroom. The material list, sometimes referred to as a “bill of materials”or as a “bill of quantities” may be a list describing equipmentassociated with a floor plan or building. The materials list may includea list of the equipment placed in the floor plan as part of thegenerative analysis. In some embodiments, the materials list may alsoinclude secondary and/or auxiliary equipment required to physicallyconstruct a building system. For example, the materials list may includeadditional equipment, sometimes referred to as auxiliary equipment,associated with the equipment specified in the generative analysis, suchas control devices, network patch panels, network switches, racks,enclosures, batteries, cables or wiring, conduits, cable trays, bolts,screws, nuts, flanges, spare equipment, or any other items that may beassociated with the primary equipment. A material list may includeequipment models (e.g., a model number or model name), quantities,pricing information, specific properties (e.g., materials ofconstruction, sizing, equipment types, or other properties), a physicaldescription, and any other information associated with the equipmentthat may be useful for purchasing, tracking, or installation of theequipment. In some embodiments, the materials list may include in imageof the equipment. The materials list may be displayed on the screen orexported as text, a table, an image (e.g., JPG, PDF, etc.), or any othersuitable format. In some embodiments, the materials list may beelectronically transmitted by email or via the internet, for example, toa third-party or third-party software application, an enterpriseresource planning (ERP) system, or any other entity that may use theinformation.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example generative analysis for generating acoverage map, consistent with the disclosed embodiments. As describedabove, the disclosed system may include accessing a floor plan 310,which may depict several rooms. The disclosed system may then receivedifferent functional requirements applied to rooms within floor plan310. For example, the system may identify functional requirements 312and 314. In this example, functional requirements 312 and 314 may definecoverage requirements for cameras, similar to the functional requirementdescribed above with respect to FIG. 1. Functional requirement 312 mayrequire a camera to identify objects with a pixel density of at least100, where functional requirement 314 may require a camera to identifyobjects with a pixel density of at least 200. The system may use agenerative analysis, as described above, to identify technicalspecifications and placement locations for cameras within floor plan310. For example, the generative analysis may result in the placement ofcameras 322, 324, and 326, as shown in FIG. 3A. The system may thenoutput the technical specifications for cameras 322, 324, and 326, aswell as the equipment placement locations. For example, the output maybe displayed via a user interface 330. The output may include a coveragemap 350, which may include the equipment placement locations for cameras322, 324, and 326, as well as the corresponding coverage areas. Theoutput may further include a materials list 340 (which may correspond tothe output technical specification, discussed above). Materials list 340may list the cameras included in the coverage map along with a modelnumber or other technical information associated with cameras 322, 324,and 326.

In some embodiments, the generative analysis may result in multipleoptions for equipment placement locations and/or technicalspecifications. Accordingly, generatively analyzing the at least onefirst room may further include displaying a plurality of technicalspecifications, a plurality of equipment placement location options, orboth. For example, the generative analysis may result in multiplesolutions that conform to the received functional requirements, or thathave similar degrees of conformation to the received functionalrequirements. In some embodiments, the disclosed methods may includepresenting a predetermined number or percentage of solutions that bestconform to the functional requirement (e.g., the top 5 results, the top10% of results, or various other thresholds). In some embodiments, theoutput may allow a user to select one or more of the options. Forexample, multiple options may be displayed on a user interface includingcontrol elements allowing the user to select a preferred option.

Similarly, the disclosed embodiments may also allow a user to modify thetechnical specifications and/or the equipment placement locations. Forexample, the output may include equipment placement locations and a usermay manually modify the equipment placement location. In someembodiments, this may include displaying the equipment placementlocations through a user interface that allows the user to move theequipment placement locations, for example, by clicking on a desiredlocation within the floor plan, dragging the equipment to a desiredlocation. The user interface may also allow the user to rotate theequipment, change an equipment placement height, modify a coverage areaof the equipment, modify a size or shape of the equipment, or any othermodifications that may be made to the placement locations. Similarly,the user may modify one or more technical specifications identifiedduring the generative analysis. For example, the user may select adifferent model of equipment, a different equipment size, a differentequipment rating or capacity, or various other parameters. Once suchchanges are made, the system might run a simulation, compare thesimulation result with one or more functional requirements, and providean output as to the extent of conformance of the changes with thefunctional requirement(s).

In some embodiments, the system may constrain the modifications by theuser such that they still conform to the functional requirement. Forexample, the system may allow the user to move a piece of equipment onlywithin a specified region that conforms to the functional requirement.In some embodiments, the system may reanalyze the equipment placementlocation and specification to determine whether it still conforms to thefunctional requirement (or a degree of conformance to the functionalrequirement). The system may generate an alert to the user or otherwisedisplay the updated conformance information based on the modifications.

According to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure,the disclosed methods may include modifying one or more functionalrequirements before performing the generative analysis. For example,this may include modifying the first functional requirement andgeneratively analyzing the at least one first room in conjunction withthe modified first functional requirement. The modification may includealtering (e.g., increasing or decreasing) one or more parametersspecified by the functional requirement, such as a flow rate, a networkspeed, a coverage percentage, or any of the functional requirementparameters described above. In some embodiments, the modification may bebased on a user input, which may override the functional requirementsthat are received by the system. In some embodiments, the modificationmay be automatic, for example, to adjust the functional requirementaccording to an applicable code or standard, a preferred value (e.g., aminimum value set by a user or organization), a value determined by acalculation (e.g., to adjust the functional requirement for a differentapplication), or any other predefined value. This modified functionalrequirement may result in a different technical specification orplacement location than with the unmodified functional requirement. Forexample, the disclosed methods may include identifying a third equipmentplacement location in order to at least partially conform to themodified first functional requirement. Further in some embodiments, oneor more functional requirements may be modified through a representationon the floor plan itself. For example, a floor plan may be associatedwith a first functional requirement and a second functional requirement,which may be modified. Accordingly, the disclosed methods may includeexporting a floor plan with the first and second functional requirementin a format enabling modification of at least one of the first or secondfunctional requirements to implement the generative analysis of the atleast one first room and the at least one second room.

As described above, the functional requirements may apply to a zonewithin a floor plan, rather than a particular room. For example, thedisclosed embodiments may include accessing a floor plan demarcating aplurality of zones. As described in greater detail herein, a zone may bean aggregation of a plurality of architectural features, rooms and/orspaces sharing a common characteristic or point of interest. The atleast one first room may include a first zone of the plurality of zonesand the at least one second room may include a second zone of theplurality of zones. In other words, the first functional requirement mayapply to at least one first zone of the plurality of zones and thesecond functional requirement may apply to at least one second zone ofthe plurality of zones.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include outputtingadditional information with the equipment placement locations andtechnical specifications. In some embodiments, the disclosed embodimentsmay include displaying power consumption data for the technicalspecification. For example, the power consumption data may represent anamount of electrical energy required to operate the specified equipmentover a specified time (e.g., expressed in watts or kilowatts, etc.).This may include an average power consumption, a peak power consumption,or various other forms of power consumption that may be relevant. Thepower consumption may be associated with a single piece of equipment, ormay represent the power consumption for multiple pieces of equipment(e.g., all equipment on the floor, all equipment in a room, allequipment of a particular type, etc.). In some embodiments, the powerconsumption may be defined by the equipment itself. In other words, thepower consumption may be a property of the equipment and may bespecified by the manufacturer. In other embodiments, the powerconsumption may depend on other factors, such as the size of the roomits being placed in, how many pieces of equipment are used for a task,or other variables. Accordingly, the generative analysis may includecalculating the power consumption based on these factors and the contextof the equipment. The power consumption may be included in the technicalspecification, or may be output separately (e.g., on the floor plan, ona display device, through an email or text-based communication, or anyother suitable forms for conveying the information).

As another example, the disclosed embodiments may include displayingconnectivity data for the first equipment technical specification. Theconnectivity data may describe any forms of connections associated withthe specified equipment. For example, the connectivity data may describepower connections required for one or more pieces of equipment, whichmay include a required voltage, a required current, wire sizingrequirements, a number of connections, or any other parametersassociated with supplying power to the equipment. As another example,connectivity data may describe network connections required for theequipment, which may include Wi-Fi access requirements, Ethernet orother hardwired connections, Bluetooth™ connectivity requirements,encryption requirements, data speed requirements, other equipment thatmust be connected to the specified equipment, or any other dataassociated with network connections for the equipment. As anotherexample, connectivity data may describe a cable, wire and/or connectortype that may be connected to a specific port on the piece of equipment.

In some embodiments, the disclosed embodiments may further includeoutputting a customized setting associated with a piece of equipmentassociated with the first technical specification and the firstequipment placement location. A customized setting may be any propertyof a piece of equipment that may be varied in some way. For example, amanufacturer of a piece of equipment may offer multiple options for apiece of equipment and the customized setting may be a selection of oneof the options. The customized setting may be a customized physicalproperty of one or pieces of equipment such as a customized color,dimension, construction, door swing, or other physical property. In someembodiments, the customized setting may include whether an optional orseparately-ordered accessory, which may include, but is not limited to aperipheral lens, masking lens, breaker, cover plate, fuse, cable, mountor module with a piece of equipment, or any other form of accessory.

In other embodiments, the customized setting may be a variable or userinput for the equipment that may affect the operation of the equipment,such as a speed setting, an operating temperature, an operating time, avolume setpoint, or any other setpoint that may be varied for a givenpiece of equipment. In some embodiments, the customized setting mayinclude setting or altering a physical component of a piece of equipment(e.g., setting an orientation, rotation, and/or tilt of a lens in a CCTVcamera in a manner that differs from its default factory setting,setting of a voltage setting, setting of a fuse and/or power supplyand/or switch, etc.). Further, the customized setting may includecombining one or more pieces of equipment, each with their own separateorder codes. The combined equipment may be configured to be fabricatedor delivered inside a common chassis, housing, rack, or enclosure (e.g.an electrical panel consisting of an enclosure and one or more circuitbreakers, fuses, terminal locks, contactors and protection devicesdelivered as a single panel to a project, a lighting switch deliveredwith a backbox and cover plate, etc.).

The customized setting may be selected during the generative analysisfor identifying the equipment placement location and technicalspecification. Accordingly, the conformance to the functionalrequirement that the generative analysis is based on may depend on thecustomize setting. In some embodiments, the customized setting may be acustomized setting range, which may define a range of setpoints for aparticular piece of equipment.

Similarly, disclosed embodiments may include generating a programmingparameter based on the first technical specification. A programmingparameter may include any form of variable or input to for the firmware,operating software, programming software, or communication protocol fora piece of equipment that influences its operations. In someembodiments, the programming parameter may be related to a communicationnetwork of a device such as setting of IP address, KNX address,addressable fire alarm address, BacNet/IP address, or various otherforms of communication addresses or values. In some embodiments, theequipment addresses may be generated randomly, in a sequence, oraccording to a range. In some embodiments, the equipment address may begenerated in conjunction with other equipment addresses, or with otherequipment addresses as an input to the generative analyzing process, toprevent conflicting addresses. In some embodiments the programmingparameter may be related to the selection of firmware and/or operatingsoftware of a piece of equipment. For example, the programming parametermay define which operating system or operating system version a piece ofequipment may run. Further, the programming parameter may be theprogramming of a single operation (e.g. turn AC off at 6:00 pm) or aseries of operations (e.g. turn AC off at 6:00 pm and lights off at 6:30pm). In some embodiments the programming parameter may includeconditional events or logic, such as a rule to turn off the AC at 6:00pm only if no people are present inside the room. The programmingparameter may be a parameter that allows the equipment specified by theequipment specification to meet the functional requirement.

As another example, the disclosed embodiments may include outputting anaccessory associated with a piece of equipment associated with the firsttechnical specification and the first equipment placement location. Anaccessory may include any piece of electronic, mechanical or any othertype of hardware that supports a primary piece of equipment. Forexample, accessories for a video camera may include cables, screws, apatch panel, a video recorder, a network switch, a rack, a UPS, or anyother materials to support installation or use of the camera. Theaccessory may be output any suitable way to convey the information to auser. In some embodiments, the accessory may be identified on the floorplan along with the equipment placement locations. In some embodimentsthe accessory may be listed on a materials list, as described above.

In some embodiments, the disclosed methods may include generating aclassification tag based on the first technical specification and thefirst equipment placement location. The classification tag may includeany form of label, placard, or sign to be placed on the equipment toidentify the equipment and/or its properties. For example, theclassification tag may include a unique identifier for the equipment, anequipment location (e.g., plant number, laboratory number, a room name,a building number, etc.), a make and model of the equipment, a standardor code applicable to the equipment, a size of the equipment, a ratingor capacity of the equipment, or any other information that may bedisplayed on the equipment. Generating the classification tag mayinclude generating a text file containing the information, generating animage file (e.g., a vector image, a PDF, a JPG, etc.), printing a tag orlabel, transmitting information to a machine or third party forproducing the tag, or any other means of presenting the information.

As another example, the disclosed embodiments may include generatinginstallation tasks based on the first technical specification and thefirst equipment placement. An installation task may include any step orprocedure that may be required when installing a piece of equipment. Theinstallation tasks may define some or all of a procedure that must befollowed to install the piece of equipment. For example, if theequipment is a camera, the installation tasks may include, disconnectinga power supply, mounting the camera, connecting the camera to a powersource, reengaging the power supply, connecting a communications cable,configuring or tuning the camera, and/or any other steps that may benecessary. The installation tasks may be generated as a list in atext-based format (e.g., a Word® document, etc.), in a table, in a Ganttchart or other scheduling tool, etc. In some embodiments, theinstallation tasks may be stored in a data structure in association withvarious pieces of equipment. The installation tasks may also be providedby a manufacturer or other third party.

By way of example, FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplarymachine-learning-based generative analysis process, consistent withdisclosed embodiments. The process may include training process 360 totrain a machine learning model to identify solutions that at leastpartially conform to a functional requirement. As shown, training mayinclude using training data that includes various room types, floorplans, and optimization results indicating conformance with thefunctional requirement. For example, using training data that includessensor coverage maps 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, and 366, a machinelearning model may be trained to maximize sensor coverage. The trainingprocess may include any method of training a machine learning model suchas a CNN, including, for example, hyperparameter tuning. Training datamay include technical specifications of equipment, floor planarchitectural data (e.g., wall boundaries or geometric data such asarea, boundary segment points, etc.), and by considering a variety ofthese inputs, the model may learn to locate sensors to maximize sensorcoverage.

Generative analysis may include implementing a trained model to providea solution. As an example, machine learning model 380 may accept floorplan 370 as input and provide solution 390 identifying sensor placementlocation to maximize sensor coverage. Machine learning model 380 mayhave been previously trained according to training process 360. Asdepicted in solution 390, a solution may include placement of twosensors to maximize sensor coverage. More generally, the generativeanalysis process illustrated in FIG. 3B may be applied to train modelsto provide solutions that at least partly conform to any functionalrequirement for any floor plan, and the solutions may include one ormore equipment placement locations.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 400 for selectingequipment for use in buildings, consistent with the disclosedembodiments. Process 400 may be performed by a processing device, suchas any of the processors described throughout the present disclosure. Itis to be understood that throughout the present disclosure, the term“processor” is used as a shorthand for “at least one processor.”Consistent with disclosed embodiments, “at least one processor” mayconstitute any physical device or group of devices having electriccircuitry that performs a logic operation on an input or inputs. Forexample, the at least one processor may include one or more integratedcircuits (IC), including application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC),microchips, microcontrollers, microprocessors, all or part of a centralprocessing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), digital signalprocessor (DSP), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), server, virtualserver, or other circuits suitable for executing instructions orperforming logic operations. The instructions executed by at least oneprocessor may, for example, be pre-loaded into a memory integrated withor embedded into the controller or may be stored in a separate memory.The memory may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory(ROM), a hard disk, an optical disk, a magnetic medium, a flash memory,other permanent, fixed, or volatile memory, or any other mechanismcapable of storing instructions. In some embodiments, the at least oneprocessor may include more than one processor. Each processor may have asimilar construction, or the processors may be of differingconstructions that are electrically connected or disconnected from eachother. For example, the processors may be separate circuits orintegrated in a single circuit. When more than one processor is used,the processors may be configured to operate independently orcollaboratively, and may be co-located or located remotely from eachother. The processors may be coupled electrically, magnetically,optically, acoustically, mechanically or by other means that permit themto interact. In other words, a processor may include one or morestructures that perform logic operations whether such structures arecollocated, connected, or disbursed.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium maycontain instructions that when executed by a processor cause theprocessor to perform process 400, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Process 400is not necessarily limited to the steps shown in FIG. 4 and any steps orprocesses of the various embodiments described throughout the presentdisclosure may also be included in process 400.

At step 402, process 400 may include accessing a floor plan demarcatinga plurality of rooms. As described above, the floor plan may include anygraphic representation of a horizontal section of a building, which mayinclude an interior of the building, an exterior of the building, orboth. In some embodiments, the floor plan may demarcate a plurality ofzones in addition to or instead of the demarcations for the plurality ofrooms. In some embodiments, the demarcations may not be included in thefloor plan and step 402 may further include determining the demarcationsthrough an image processing technique or geometric analysis, asdescribed above.

At step 404, process 400 may include receiving a first functionalrequirement for at least one first room of the plurality of rooms. Thefirst functional requirement may be applied by a user. In cases wherethe demarcations of rooms have been identified, the functionalrequirement may be applied to the entire contours of a room withoutinput by the user being required to define the contours of the room. Thefirst functional requirement may define expected or required performanceparameters associated with the first room, as described above.Similarly, at step 406, process 400 may include receiving a secondfunctional requirement for at least one second room of the plurality ofrooms. In some embodiments, the first functional requirement and thesecond functional requirement may be the different, however, this is notnecessarily so.

At step 408, process 400 may include generatively analyzing the at leastone first room in conjunction with the first functional requirement toidentify a first technical specification and a first equipment placementlocation in order to at least partially conform to the first functionalrequirement. In some embodiments, the generative analysis may be aniterative process. For example, the generative analysis may include aseries of simulations including one or more analyses of differingequipment placement locations, as described above with respect toFIG. 1. At step 410, process 400 may include generatively analyzing theat least one second in conjunction with the second functionalrequirement to identify a second technical specification and a secondequipment placement location order to at least partially conform to thesecond functional requirement. Additional details regarding thegenerative analysis that may be applied to the first and second roomsare provided above.

At step 412, process 400 may include outputting the first technicalspecification and the first equipment placement location in anassociative manner with the at least one first room. Similarly, at step414, process 400 may include outputting the second technicalspecification and the second equipment placement location in anassociative manner with the at least one second room. The output may beprovided in a variety of formats, as described above. In someembodiments the output may include a CAD file with blocks or otherrepresentations of the selected equipment technical specifications andlocations, a BIM file containing BIM objects associated with theequipment technical specification and placement locations, an image filewith the equipment placement locations overlaid on the image. In someembodiments, the output may further include other information,including, but not limited to, a materials list, a customized setting, aprogramming parameter, a score evaluating the placement locations, acoverage map, a classification tag, or any other information that may bepertinent to the technical specifications or equipment placementlocations.

Embodiments of this disclosure may involve the use of artificialintelligence or machine learning. In some embodiments, machine learningalgorithms (also referred to as machine learning models in the presentdisclosure) may be trained using training examples, for example in thecases described below. Some non-limiting examples of such machinelearning algorithms may include classification algorithms, dataregressions algorithms, image segmentation algorithms, visual detectionalgorithms (such as object detectors, face detectors, person detectors,motion detectors, edge detectors, etc.), visual recognition algorithms(such as face recognition, person recognition, object recognition,etc.), speech recognition algorithms, mathematical embedding algorithms,natural language processing algorithms, support vector machines, randomforests, nearest neighbors algorithms, deep learning algorithms,artificial neural network algorithms, convolutional neural networkalgorithms, recursive neural network algorithms, linear machine learningmodels, non-linear machine learning models, ensemble algorithms, and soforth. For example, a trained machine learning algorithm may comprise aninference model, such as a predictive model, a classification model, aregression model, a clustering model, a segmentation model, anartificial neural network (such as a deep neural network, aconvolutional neural network, a recursive neural network, etc.), arandom forest, a support vector machine, and so forth. In some examples,the training examples may include example inputs together with thedesired outputs corresponding to the example inputs. Further, in someexamples, training machine learning algorithms using the trainingexamples may generate a trained machine learning algorithm, and thetrained machine learning algorithm may be used to estimate outputs forinputs not included in the training examples. In some examples,engineers, scientists, processes and machines that train machinelearning algorithms may further use validation examples and/or testexamples. For example, validation examples and/or test examples mayinclude example inputs together with the desired outputs correspondingto the example inputs, a trained machine learning algorithm and/or anintermediately trained machine learning algorithm may be used toestimate outputs for the example inputs of the validation examplesand/or test examples, the estimated outputs may be compared to thecorresponding desired outputs, and the trained machine learningalgorithm and/or the intermediately trained machine learning algorithmmay be evaluated based on a result of the comparison. In some examples,a machine learning algorithm may have parameters and hyper parameters,where the hyper parameters are set manually by a person or automaticallyby an process external to the machine learning algorithm (such as ahyper parameter search algorithm), and the parameters of the machinelearning algorithm are set by the machine learning algorithm accordingto the training examples. In some implementations, the hyper-parametersare set according to the training examples and the validation examples,and the parameters are set according to the training examples and theselected hyper-parameters.

In some embodiments, trained machine learning algorithms (also referredto as trained machine learning models in the present disclosure) may beused to analyze inputs and generate outputs, for example in the casesdescribed below. In some examples, a trained machine learning algorithmmay be used as an inference model that when provided with an inputgenerates an inferred output. For example, a trained machine learningalgorithm may include a classification algorithm, the input may includea sample, and the inferred output may include a classification of thesample (such as an inferred label, an inferred tag, and so forth). Inanother example, a trained machine learning algorithm may include aregression model, the input may include a sample, and the inferredoutput may include an inferred value for the sample. In yet anotherexample, a trained machine learning algorithm may include a clusteringmodel, the input may include a sample, and the inferred output mayinclude an assignment of the sample to at least one cluster. In anadditional example, a trained machine learning algorithm may include aclassification algorithm, the input may include an image, and theinferred output may include a classification of an item depicted in theimage. In yet another example, a trained machine learning algorithm mayinclude a regression model, the input may include an image, and theinferred output may include an inferred value for an item depicted inthe image (such as an estimated property of the item, such as size,volume, age of a person depicted in the image, cost of a productdepicted in the image, and so forth). In an additional example, atrained machine learning algorithm may include an image segmentationmodel, the input may include an image, and the inferred output mayinclude a segmentation of the image. In yet another example, a trainedmachine learning algorithm may include an object detector, the input mayinclude an image, and the inferred output may include one or moredetected objects in the image and/or one or more locations of objectswithin the image. In some examples, the trained machine learningalgorithm may include one or more formulas and/or one or more functionsand/or one or more rules and/or one or more procedures, the input may beused as input to the formulas and/or functions and/or rules and/orprocedures, and the inferred output may be based on the outputs of theformulas and/or functions and/or rules and/or procedures (for example,selecting one of the outputs of the formulas and/or functions and/orrules and/or procedures, using a statistical measure of the outputs ofthe formulas and/or functions and/or rules and/or procedures, and soforth).

In some embodiments, analyzing image data (for example by the methods,steps and modules described herein) may comprise analyzing the imagedata to obtain a preprocessed image data, and subsequently analyzing theimage data and/or the preprocessed image data to obtain the desiredoutcome. Some non-limiting examples of such image data may include oneor more images, videos, frames, footages, 2D image data, 3D image data,and so forth. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that thefollowings are examples, and that the image data may be preprocessedusing other kinds of preprocessing methods. In some examples, the imagedata may be preprocessed by transforming the image data using atransformation function to obtain a transformed image data, and thepreprocessed image data may comprise the transformed image data. Forexample, the transformed image data may comprise one or moreconvolutions of the image data. For example, the transformation functionmay comprise one or more image filters, such as low-pass filters,high-pass filters, band-pass filters, all-pass filters, and so forth. Insome examples, the transformation function may comprise a nonlinearfunction. In some examples, the image data may be preprocessed bysmoothing at least parts of the image data, for example using Gaussianconvolution, using a median filter, and so forth. In some examples, theimage data may be preprocessed to obtain a different representation ofthe image data. For example, the preprocessed image data may comprise: arepresentation of at least part of the image data in a frequency domain;a Discrete Fourier Transform of at least part of the image data; aDiscrete Wavelet Transform of at least part of the image data; atime/frequency representation of at least part of the image data; arepresentation of at least part of the image data in a lower dimension;a lossy representation of at least part of the image data; a losslessrepresentation of at least part of the image data; a time ordered seriesof any of the above; any combination of the above; and so forth. In someexamples, the image data may be preprocessed to extract edges, and thepreprocessed image data may comprise information based on and/or relatedto the extracted edges. In some examples, the image data may bepreprocessed to extract image features from the image data. Somenon-limiting examples of such image features may comprise informationbased on and/or related to edges; corners; blobs; ridges; ScaleInvariant Feature Transform (SIFT) features; temporal features; and soforth.

In some embodiments, analyzing image data (for example, by the methods,steps and modules described herein) may include analyzing the image dataand/or the preprocessed image data using one or more rules, functions,procedures, artificial neural networks, object detection algorithms,face detection algorithms, visual event detection algorithms, actiondetection algorithms, motion detection algorithms, backgroundsubtraction algorithms, inference models, and so forth. Somenon-limiting examples of such inference models may include: an inferencemodel preprogrammed manually; a classification model; a regressionmodel; a result of training algorithms, such as machine learningalgorithms and/or deep learning algorithms, on training examples, wherethe training examples may include examples of data instances, and insome cases, a data instance may be labeled with a corresponding desiredlabel and/or result; and so forth.

In some embodiments, analyzing image data (for example, by the methods,steps and modules described herein) may include analyzing pixels,voxels, point cloud, range data, etc. included in the image data.

In accordance with the present disclosure, systems, methods, andcomputer readable media may be provided for selective simulation ofequipment coverage in a floor plan. Selective simulation of equipmentcoverage may refer to a process of selecting and locating equipment toidentify whether a coverage area of the equipment at least partly meetsa functional requirement. Equipment coverage may include an area thatequipment can illuminate (e.g., an area in which a light can provide aspecific lighting condition), can provide output to (e.g., an area inwhich a speaker can provide sound at a level audible to persons withinthe area), can sense (e.g., an area viewable by a camera, or an area inwhich movement triggers a motion detector), can broadcast to or from(e.g., a Wi-Fi access area), or can provide any other service orcondition.

The disclosed embodiments may include simulating equipment coverage. Forexample, equipment coverage may be simulated based on a floor plan,desired equipment coverage, desired use of an area within a floor plan,functional requirements, technical characteristics, architecturalfeatures, user input, or any other variable. One or more simulations maybe run to produce a solution as described herein in order to aid theuser in the selection of equipment within a floor plan. Selectingequipment may include selecting an equipment model or an equipmentplacement location.

Disclosed embodiments may include accessing a floor plan demarcating atleast one room, as described herein. For example, a floor plan may beaccessed by receiving a digital, textual, hand draw, hard copy,photographic, or any other representation of a floor plan as stored in adata structure. The floor plan may include a room demarcation indicatingthe location of a room in a plan in relation to the rest of the plan.More generally, a room demarcation may include information relating to afloor plan that may indicate the location of a room in a plan inrelation to the rest of the plan. It may also include the boundaries(i.e., contours) of the room. Boundaries may include the objects, realor imaginary, that provide borders of the room, including walls orwindows that surround a room. Openings associated with the room'sborders may be included in room contours (e.g., doors or window leadingin and out of the room). Demarcating a room may include contoursdefining equipment locations or the locations of architectural features,including columns, beams, furniture, or other objects contained in theroom. As a non-limiting example, FIG. 5 depicts schematic illustrations500, 502, and 504 of an exemplary floor plans, with room demarcations501 indicating the location of room 503 and doors leading into thatroom. In some embodiments accessing the floor plan demarcating at leastone room may include performing at least one of machine learningmethods, geometric analysis, or semantic analysis on the floor plan todemarcate contours of the at least one room, as described in greaterdetail herein.

As previously discussed, accessing may occur when, for example, a floorplan is uploaded, linked, retrieved, recovered, extracted, or otherwiseprovided to or obtained for analysis by at least one processor. Forexample, a floor plan may be accessed as an image, CAD, or PDF file. Thesystem may use machine learning methods, geometric analysis, semanticanalysis, or a combination thereof in order to demarcate the contours ofone or more rooms. In this way, a floor plan may be imported in a formatthat lacks semantic designations or other indicators of room contours,and the disclosed embodiments may include processes to automatically addsuch contours.

In some embodiments, floor plan analysis may be performed on an accessedfloor plan to identify the room contours of at least one demarcatedroom. For example, floor plan analysis may be used on a floor plan toidentify the room contours of one or more previously demarcated rooms.Room contours may include boundaries of a room that constitute theboarders of the room, as disclosed herein. Floorplan analysis mayinclude image analysis, machine learning methods, semantic analysis, orgeometric metric analysis, alone or in combination. It may include butis not limited to extracting information about the floor plan from aBIM, CAD, PDF, image or skeletal model. The floorplan analysis may beused to locate rooms, room borders, doors, windows, stairs, furnitureand any other architectural feature. A floorplan analysis may indicatethe type of feature detected. floor plan analysis may include usinggeometric analysis, semantic analysis, image analysis and machinelearning methods as descried herein.

Disclosed embodiments may include receiving, via a graphical userinterface, information marking an area within the at least one room. Forexample, a user may be presented with a graphical user interface on aphysical or virtual display that enables the user to select either thefull area or a sub-area of a room or to otherwise provide some otherdesignation for some or all of the area of the room (any or all of whichmay be considered “marking”). In such situations, the interface maypermit the user to touch, click on, or otherwise define a region orboundary, and/or to associate a designation with some or all of thedefined area of the room. The user may provide, via such a graphicaluser interface, information marking the defined area. Marking mayinclude notating boundaries of a space or sub-space. The marking mayalso include or alternatively include generating or displaying visualrepresentations of an area (e.g., lines, highlighting letters, symbols,or other types of marks). Marking may also include storing a designationin a data structure, index, or database, for example.

A marked area may define an area of interest or disinterest within atleast one room. An area of interest (AOI) or area of disinterest (AOD)may be an area upon which functional requirements or technicalcharacteristics are applied and may differ from the functionalrequirement applied to another area of the room. For example, in alighting simulation an AOI may include a work region or plane whichneeds to be lighted at a higher lux level than the rest of the room. Ina CCTV simulation an AOI may include an entrance to a room in whichfacial identification is required, and an AOD may include the door to arestroom or stall which the camera is not allowed to observe. In akitchen cabinetry layout simulation, an AOI may be an area where acertain appliance needs to be placed. An AOI may be defined by arectangle, a polyline, a circle, a point, a box, or any regular orirregular geometry. An AOI may be defined by the user or automaticallyderived by an algorithm. In some instances an AOI may or may not includeadditional information related to directionality (for example, in a CCTVsimulation an AOI may indicate that a cash machine needs to bescrutinized from a specific direction. More then one AOI can be definedin a single space and they may or may not overlap each other. The areaof interest or disinterest may be an area equal to or less than the areaof the room. In some embodiment, the area of interest or disinterest maybe an area greater than an area of a single room. In some embodimentsthe area of interest may correspond to a piece of equipment. Forexample, the area of interest or disinterest may include a door.Additionally or alternatively, the area of interest or disinterest mayinclude furniture such as a desk. In further embodiments, the area ofinterest or disinterest may include any equipment.

In example 502 in FIG. 5, an exemplary area of interest or disinterest505 is designated by a user to correspond to a functional requirement,such as an area of desired coverage by a security camera. Consistentwith disclosed embodiments, the user may associated a functionalrequirement with AOI/AOD 505 or the functional requirement may beidentified based on a semantic designation of a room, a technicalspecification of equipment, or information retrieved from a datastructure (e.g., an index), or otherwise obtained by the system.

In some embodiments the at least one processor may be configured toreceive, via a graphical user interface, information marking a pluralityof areas of interest or disinterest in at least one room. In furtherembodiments the plurality of respective areas of interest or disinterestmay have respective different functional requirements or differentfunctional requirement types. For example, a first functionalrequirement may involve a lighting condition and a second functionalrequirement may involve sensor coverage. Or, two different functionalrequirements may be of the same type (e.g., lighting condition) but therequirements may vary (e.g., different lux levels.) These differingvariables may be entered, for example, via a graphical user interface,via a rule, or via index.

In some examples, different areas of interest or disinterest may notoverlap. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one processor maybe configured to receive, via the graphical user interface, informationmarking overlapping respective areas of interest within the at least oneroom. For example, a functional requirement of a lux level for an areaof interest encompassing a work space may overlap with a functionalrequirement of motion sensing which includes the work space and anotherportion of the room. The graphical user interface may therefore assign afirst visual representation (e.g., color, cross-hatching) to an area ofinterest associated with the lux level requirement and a second visualrepresentation to an area of interest associated with the motion sensingrequirement. The two visual representations may be displayed together inoverlapping fashion, or may be displayed separately, upon a user'sdesignation of a functional requirement for viewing.

By way of example, FIG. 6A depicts an example of multiple areas ofinterest or disinteret within a common area 603 of room 601. In example600, area of interest or disinterest 605 and area of interest ordisinterest 607 are separate and do not overlap. In the example,different areas of interest or disinterest 605 and 607 may have the samefunctional requirements as each other or different functionalrequirements. Alternatively, as depicted in example 602, areas ofinterest or disinterest 609 and 611 share overlapping area 613. Area ofinterest or disinterest 609 may have the same functional requirement asarea of interest or disinterest 611. Alternatively, area of interest ordisinterest 609 may have a different functional requirement from area ofinterest or disinterest 611.

In one example, area of interest or disinterest 605 and area of interestor disinterest 607 may both have a functional requirement for Wi-Ficoverage. In another example, area of interest or disinterest 605 mayhave a functional requirement for an HVAC system to provide air flow andventilation suitable according to applicable national, state ormunicipal codes for a specific room occupancy while area of interest ordisinterest 605 may have a functional requirement for at least 500 lux.

In some embodiments the at least one processor may be further configuredto receive information defining an area of interest with a plurality offunctional requirements. For example, a single area within a room mayhave both a smoke detection and motion sensing requirement. In thisexample, the area of interest may be defined in terms of both functionalrequirements.

In some embodiments, marking the area of interest or disinterest mayinclude selecting an area automatically identified using machinelearning methods, image analysis, geometric analysis, and/or semanticanalysis. For example, the system may use image analysis in combinationwith machine learning models to mark or determine an area of interestwithin a floor plan based on an accessed floor plan automatically,without requiring a user to manually mark an area of interest ordisinterest. This may occur through the application of rules. Forexample, one rule might be that every external door and window isrequired to be covered by a motion sensor. Another rule might beachieving a certain air flow level, lighting illumination level and/orsensor coverage level for desks or work planes. Another rule might be toavoid sensors or detectors covering an area within a certain range ordistance of another piece of equipment such as an air vent. The systemmay then employ a machine learning algorithm to identify external doorsand windows, and mark those regions as areas of interest. Another rulemight be that bathroom doors should not be covered by a camera. An imagerecognition algorithm might identify a toilet in a floor plan, use thetoilet to identify a bathroom, identify the door to the bathroom, andthen designate an area surrounding the bathroom door as an area ofdisinterest for a CCTV camera. The system may mark an area on the floorplan with a visual indication or representation, including lines, dots,shading, color, highlighting, text, symbols, or other means ofidentifying an area. Additionally, or alternatively, the system may markan area for validation by a user via a graphical user interface

Thus, a floor plan analysis (e.g., at least one of a machine learningmethod or an image, semantic, or geometric analysis) may indicate thatcoverage is needed in area of interest or coverage should be avoided inareas of disinterest and mark the areas according. Based on predefinedspecifications, the system may determine areas where coverage is neededand areas where coverage is not permitted. Such a rule may define thatan electrical outlet may not be located within a specified distance froma sink and that an electrical outlet needs to be located with aspecified distance from a desk, or that a fire detection and/orsuppression system must be located within a specified distance from afurnace. Using image recognition or semantic analysis, the system myscour floor plans to identify sinks, desks and furnaces, andautomatically define the areas of interest and disinterest, without userintervention. By automating the process of identifying areas of interestor disinterest, disclosed embodiments improve on the speed and accuracyof conventional approaches. For example, in commercial projects withdozens of floors and hundreds if not thousands of rooms, there could bemany thousand functional requirements. 100% compliance in suchsituations might be impossible, even when thousands of hours of areinvested in the project. Advantageously, the disclosed embodiments mayensure a level of compliance unattainable without this inventiveapproach. Moreover, the inventive approach may reduce to minutes or afew hours projects that might take many weeks or months. In someembodiments, the results of a process of automatically identifying andprompting users to select areas of interest or disinterest may be usedto train machine learning models.

Disclosed embodiments may include accessing a functional requirementassociated with an area of interest or disinterest. This may occur whena functional requirement is stored in memory, such as a data structure,and the system accesses the functional requirement for application to afloor plan. In some embodiments a set of functional requirements may bedefined and stored for a project, and the system might simultaneouslyrun the functional requirements against a floor plan, defining allAOIs/AODs in a common process.

In some embodiments the at least on processor may be further configuredto apply a functional requirement to an entire area of the at least oneroom without user definition of room contours in addition to thegraphically marked areas of interest. For example, some areas ofinterest may be graphically marked in the floor plan and others may not.Regardless, the system might recognize and apply functional requirementsto those areas that are already marked, while automatically identifyingAOIs/AODs not predesignated and applying associated functionalrequirements. In such instances, room contours or boundaries may bedetermined through machine learning or computer image recognitionwithout user input.

In some embodiments the area of disinterest may define an area outside adesired sensor coverage area For example, as described earlier, ratherthan positively defining a space or area where equipment may be locatedor sensor coverage may be desired, an area of disinterest may define anegative limitation where equipment placement is not desired or wheresensor coverage should be avoided. Sensor coverage may refer to an areawhere something is able to be detected by a sensor (e.g., a . videosurveillance camera, temperature sensor, motion sensor, occupancysensor, light sensor, water leak sensor, humidity sensors, door contact,glass break sensor, or other detector configured to detect localconditions). For example, an area covered by a sensor maybe leastpartially within a sphere or cone of coverage originating at a sensor.Sensors may have different levels of quality associated with a coveragearea (i.e., an occupancy sensor may detect small motions at four feetbut only large movements at 15 feet, a camera might be able to viewsomeone's face clearly in one location but only identify movement fromanother location). For example, an area with certain space of an airvent and/or obstruction may be defined as an area of where equipmentplacement should be avoided.

An area of interest or disinterest may define an area of desired sensorcoverage, an area for placement of a controller, an area for placementof furniture, an area for placement of electrical equipment, an area forplacement of an access control device an area for placement ofequipment, an area of functional requirements, or any area associatedwith satisfaction of any other functional requirement. Areas of interestmay include regions in which a level of sensor coverage is defined(e.g., a minimum Wi-Fi signal strength within the region).

Disclosed embodiments may also include assessing technicalspecifications associated with a functional requirement. Accessing inthis context may involve retrieving a technical specification frommemory, such as a data structure. A technical specification may includeany information that describes a characteristic of a component, piece ofequipment, or other requirement. It may include but is not limited to,for example, one or more of a model identifier (specific manufacturermodel or series), an operating parameter, an operational outcome, amechanical or electrical design, a capacity, a coverage area, a range ofoperation, compatibility, reliability, an equipment class (e.g. OutdoorWI-FI Access Point, Long Range Access Point, Infrared Motion Sensor with90 Degree Coverage, Modular Kitchen Cabinets), or any other detail thatdefines a product, operation, or requirement. A technical specificationcan also include one or more technical characteristics. A technicalcharacteristic may include properties such as mounting device type,resolution, DB rating, luminosity, IR rating, lens type, network speed,wattage requirement, color, dimensions, material, flammability rating,or water-resistance.

A functional requirement may include but is not limited to a descriptionof performance parameters expected from a system. Generally, afunctional requirement may be defined for the entire system, for aproject, a floor plan, a zone, a room, an area or an architecturalfeature. A functional requirement may describe, for example, a minimalor maximal performance of the system in a task. A type of a functionalrequirement may relate to or be derived from equipment or systems (anHVAC functional requirement may describe the performance of an HVACsystem).

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, a functional requirement may beused as a target for a generative analysis. For example, a functionalrequirement from a lighting system may be to provide at least 500 lux toa room. A functional requirement from a CCTV system may be to provideenough pixel density and/or resolution to identify the face of a person.A functional requirement from an HVAC system may be to provide air flowand ventilation suitable according to applicable national, state ormunicipal codes for a specific room occupancy. A functional requirementfor a voice evacuation system may be a level for Speech Intelligibility(STI) and sound pressure in DB (SPL) in an area. A functionalrequirement from an access control system may be to fit all exit doorswith keypads. A functional requirement from a fire safety system may beto protect all doors leading to escape corridors with smoke detectors.Different types of functional requirements (for example noise level andcamera coverage) can be applied to the same area. When functionalrequirements conflict, one may supersede another, or a combination maybe invalid and not applied. For example, a portion of a floor plan mayhave a requirement to maintain camera coverage in all areas to track oridentify persons, but this requirement may be superseded by a functionalrequirement to avoid camera coverage for privacy in a bathroom withinthat portion of the floor plan. Thus, functional requirements may haveassociated with them hierarchical rules of application in the event ofconflict.

Disclosed embodiments may also include generatively analyzing thetechnical specifications to define a solution that at least partiallyconforms to the functional requirement. In some situations it may not bepossible to completely conform to a functional requirement. This mayoccur as the result of realities in of a design or realities ofavailable equipment. For example, in a small bathroom, it may not bepossible to locate an electrical outlet at least four feet from a doorand at least four feet from a sink. Only one or the other might beachievable. The system might evaluate both options (e.g., a generativeanalysis where more than one option is considered) and select a solutionthat gets closest to achieving the conflicting specifications. Or atechnical specification for an amount of airflow through a space mightnot be achievable by the available equipment. Generative analysis mightbe used to check different vent locations and available equipment toselect the combination that gets closest to achieving the functionalrequirement. In some embodiments generatively analyzing the technicalspecifications to define the solution may include sequentially runningsimulations. For example, generatively analyzing technicalspecifications may include running some combination of a weighted costfunction, image analysis, geometric analysis, semantic analysis, floorplan analysis, topology analysis, BIM analysis, rule-based design,statistical analysis, optimization, or any other data analysis asdisclosed herein.

A generative analysis may be based on architectural features of the atleast one room. For example, the system may analyze data associated withthe architectural features of one or more rooms and then automaticallyselect a piece of equipment and its placement that conforms to thefunctional requirement. Architectural features that might impact suchanalyses may include room area, ceiling height, lines of sight, windowlocations, door locations, railing locations, column or furniturelocations, locations of other pieces of equipment specified, or anyother physical detail. For example, a pitched ceiling or ceiling withdropped beams may necessitate different smoke detector coverage ranges.In some embodiments the generative analysis may be based on anarchitectural feature outside the at least one room. For example, a roomlocated near a stairwell or to a main water line (examples of featuresoutside the room) might subject the room to additional requirements.Hence, the system may analyze data associated with architecturalfeatures outside of a room when generatively analyzing technicalspecifications to define a solution for an area of interest ordisinterest inside of a room. By way of another example, generativeanalysis may account for walls or other architectural features outside aroom that may inhibit Wi-Fi or Bluetooth transmission when defining asolution involving Wi-Fi or Bluetooth coverage in an area oftransmission.

In some embodiments, the generative analysis may be based on a furnitureand/or equipment placement within the at least one room. For example,the system may access data associated with furniture placement within aroom when generatively analyzing technical specifications to define asolution for an area of interest inside of a room. Additionally, oralternatively, the data associated with the furniture placement within aroom may include furniture placement within the area of interest ordisinterest and/or furniture placement outside the area of interest ordisinterest. For example, an electrical power outlet or floorbox mayhave a preferred location under a desk and a undesirable location undera cabinet, and the generative analyzing process may consider thelocations of desks and cabinets in a room and only sample such pointslocated in or adjacent to desks. As another example, there may be apreference to locate some pieces of equipment adjacent to one another(e.g. aggregating light switches in one location). In other cases, forexample, there may be a preference to locate some pieces of equipmentaway from each other (e.g. a minimum distance between a smoke detectorand an HVAC air vent). Data regarding the placement of a piece ofequipment (e.g., sensor, transmitter, furniture, etc.) within a floorplan may be expressed as (X,Y) coordinates in relation to a room corneror to any other reference point. The coordinates may further includeheight data (Z) in relation to a reference point. Additionally oralternatively, the placement data may include horizontal and verticalrotation information (i.e., expressed in degrees from a referencepoint).

In some embodiments, the generative analysis may include a topologicalanalysis to determine a preferred door face for equipment placement. Forexample, if a functional requirement involves detecting entry to oregress from a room, an analysis of the door face may indicate thedirection of door swing and inform sensor placement. More generally, atopological analysis may include but is not limited to an analysis ofconnectivity of spaces within a floor plan that can reveal informationregarding properties of spaces. Topological analysis may include imageprocessing, geometric analysis, and semantic analysis, and machinelearning techniques. A topological analysis may define relationshipsbetween rooms and their position in the floor plan hierarchy using thedoors that connect between them to create spatial maps. A spatial mapmay be described as weighted graphs and graph properties such asconnectivity and shortest paths. The face of the door is one of the twomain planes of its geometry. This is important since doors usually swingto one side, so the two door faces behave differently (one face opensinward, the other face outwards). A topological analysis may define theside of a door face located within a corridor and the side of a doorlocated within a room (e.g. office) and determine that an access controldevice such as a reader should be placed on the side of the door locatedwith a corridor while a push to exit button should be location on theother side of the door face within an office.

In some embodiments, an area of functional requirement may includedirectionality. For example, directionality may be related to cameracoverage, speaker or microphone coverage, lighting coverage, or anothertype of coverage. That is, the direction a sensor or receiver faces orthe angular settings on a sensor or receiver may relate to whether aparticular sensor or receiver is able to fulfill a functionalrequirement. Thus, a solution may not only specify a piece of equipment,but also its directionality and/or its angular settings. To illustratethis example, meeting room may include a meeting room table or displaysystem associated with an area of interest, and for example, adirectionality may relate to preferred field of view specifications forvideo conferencing.

By way of example, FIG. 6A illustrates example floor plan 604 definingarea of interest 615 with a directionality indicated by an arrow.Directionality may be related to a type of motion detector, a camera, aspeaker, or any other sensor, for example. Floor plan 606 includes acoverage map illustrating angular coverage of sensor 619 conforming witha directionality component of a functional requirement of area ofinterest 615.

Disclosed embodiments may also include outputting the solution. Anoutput solution may be a graphical depiction of equipment location ortypes which are the result of the generative analysis process. It may bedepicted as a layer on top of the input floor plan. It may containgraphical and/or textual information. Graphically, the solution mayinclude an icon or symbol indicating placement of equipment. Text mightidentify a model number or other information about the equipment.Textual information might also include installation or settingsinformation. In addition or alternatively, an outputted solution, mayinclude a text document such as in Word form, a chart such as in Excelform, an image file such as a jpg, a vector image file such as a PDF, avector architectural file such as a DWG, and a BIM model such as a RVTor IFC. The solution may further include an electronic file, databaseentry, or an index containing information such as placement informationand/or technical specifications. It may be electronically transmitted,such as to an ERP or CRM system or to programming software. Additionallyor alternatively, an output may be displayed via a graphical userinterface on a display or virtually. A solution may include a floor plancontaining one or more areas of interest or disinterest.

By way of example, FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary solution. In example 504,the solution includes the placement of a security camera 509 with acoverage area 507. The solution of example 504 may be defined accordingto the process described in relation to FIG. 6B, for example, as isdiscussed later.

In some embodiments the solution may include a selection of at least onepiece of equipment and/ordefining an equipment placement location of asensor. Sensors are items of equipment whose goal is to detect localconditions. Sensors types may include CCTV cameras, IR sensors,thermostats, motion detectors, occupancy sensors, smoke detectors, heatdetectors, thermal detectors, glass break detectors, door contacts,window contacts, or other types of devices configured to detect realworld conditions. As part of a solution, the system may identify aparticular type or model of sensor and may also specify where in thefloor plan the sensor should be placed.

In another embodiment outputting the solution may include displaying acoverage map spatially indicating regions covered by at least one ofsensors, wireless emitters, Bluetooth beacons, wireless emitters, lightemitters, or sound emitters. A coverage map may be a graphicalrepresentation of the area within the range of a sensor or an outputdevice, and may indicate the field of view of a camera, the detectionarea of a sensor or an area in which an alarm can be heard at athreshold decibel level. In the context of transmitters and receivers, acoverage map may indicate areas of reception, and in the context ofcameras, a coverage map may reflect fields of view meeting a thresholdpixel resolution. A coverage map may be in any format including a CADfile, a BIM model, a PDF, or other file format suitable for representingspatial data.

Outputting the solution may also include displaying a furniture layout.For example, when functional specifications involve furniture, thesolution output may contain a graphical representation of the furniturelayout. Textual information may also be provided specifying categories,sizes, or models of furniture.

In another embodiment, outputting the solution may include an equipmentplacement location of electrical equipment. For example, the solutionmay include graphical or textual information indicating the selection orlocation of electrical equipment within a floor plan. The outputsolution may be graphical in that it uses symbols to indicate electricalequipment locations and text may also be provided to illuminate thedetails of the electrical equipment and/or its installation. The outputmay be provided in a BIM model or CAD drawing, and may include semanticdata related to electrical, HVAC and other equipment (e.g. block name,family type, label, or tag),

In one example, the solution may be based on a weighted cost function. Aweight of the weighted cost function may be based on user input, asdescribed herein. A cost function may be any form of equation designedto account for multiple goals in reaching a solution.

In some embodiments, the system may be a cloud-based system. Forexample, the methods described herein may be executed in a virtualinstance by a remote computer, rather than a local processor.Cloud-based computation can provide advantages in scalability, cost, andsecurity over approaches that rely on local computational orconventional servers.

By way of example, FIG. 5 depicts exemplary output 506 of a solution viaa graphical user interface 513 of user device 511. In this example, theoutput includes a coverage map and an area of interest in a floor plan.

FIG. 6B depicts a flowchart of an example process for selectivesimulation of requirement coverage in a floor plan, consistent withdisclosed embodiments. The process may be performed by at least oneprocessor. In some embodiments the process is not necessarily limited tothe steps illustrated and any of the various embodiments describedherein may be included in or excluded from the process.

At step 621, the process may include accessing a floor plan demarcatingat least one room. As discussed herein, for example, a floor plan may beaccessed by receiving any medium containing a representation of a floorplan. A floor plan may be accessed by receiving a digital, textual, handdraw, hard copy, photographic, or any other representation of a floorplan as stored in a data structure.

At step 623, the process may include receiving, via a graphical userinterface, information marking an area within the at least one room,wherein the marked area may define an area of interest or disinterestwithin the at least one room, and wherein the area of interest ordisinterest may cover an area less than an area of the at least oneroom. For example, a user may provide, via a graphical user interface,information marking an area with a room. The marked area may define andarea of interest or disinterest within the room, as defined herein. Thearea of interest or disinterest may be an area equal to or less than thearea of the room. In some embodiment, the area of interest ordisinterest may be an area greater than an area of a single room. Insome embodiments the area of interest may correspond to a piece ofequipment.

At step 625, the process may include accessing a functional requirementassociated with the area of interest or disinterest. For example, the atleast one processor may access a function requirement associated with anarea of interest or disinterest stored in memory, such as in a datastructure as disclosed herein.

At step 627, the process may include assessing technical specificationsassociated with the functional requirement. For example, the at leastone processor may access technical specification associated with afunctional requirement that are stored in memory, such as a datastructure as disclosed herein. By way of non-limiting example, if thefunctional requirement is to detect motion in an area of interest, thetechnical specifications may include details for various motion sensorsand their capabilities.

At step 629, the process may include generatively analyzing thetechnical specifications to define a solution that at least partiallyconforms to the functional requirement. For example, the at least oneprocessor may generatively analyze technical specifications in order todefine a solution that at least partially conforms to the functionalrequirement associated with an area of interest or disinterest.Continuing with the above motion detection example, the system maygeneratively analyze technical specifications of various motiondetectors to identify a preferred solution. The preferred solution maybe a function not only of sensor coverage, but also may be a function ofcost and equipment usage consistency across other regions of the floorplan other than the particular room under analysis. In other examples,generative analysis might be run on many portions of the floor plansimultaneously, and the defined solution may be one that takes intoaccount multiple areas of interest.

At step 631, the process may include outputting the solution, asdisclosed herein. The at least one processor may display the output viaa graphical user interface.

As previously discussed, the present disclosure relates to a method anda system for selective simulation of equipment coverage in a floor plan,as well as a non-transitory computer-readable medium that may includeinstructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the atleast one processor to execute operations enabling selective simulationof equipment coverage in a floor plan.

For ease of discussion, a system is described below, with theunderstanding that aspects of the system apply equally to methods,devices, and computer readable media. For example, some aspects of sucha system may occur electronically over a network that is either wired,wireless, or both. Other aspects of such a system may occur usingnon-electronic means. In a broadest sense, the system is not limited toparticular physical and/or electronic instrumentalities, but rather maybe accomplished using many differing instrumentalities.

Structural design, as used herein, may refer to a processes for theplanning, design, construction, and/or operation of buildings. In thiscontext, embodiments may include analysis related to equipmentselection, equipment placement location, wiring diagrams associated withequipment, and other aspects of the design of a building that involvesequipment. For example, embodiments may include analysis and integrateddesign of environmental systems (e.g., energy, HVAC, plumbing, lighting,fire protection, acoustics, vertical and horizontal transportation, orother systems in a building). Selective simulation, also referred to asgenerative analysis, may include but is not limited to a process inwhich a solution to a problem, geometric mathematical, physical, orotherwise, is arrived at by a computational device, as discussed ingreater detail herein. Technical specification coverage, or technicalspecification, may include but is not limited to one or more of anequipment specification, a model identifier, and/or any technicalcharacteristic describing one or more properties of a piece ofequipment, as discussed in greater detail herein. A floor plan mayinclude but is not limited to a graphic representation of a horizontalsection of a building or an exterior or both, as discussed in greaterdetail herein.

By way of example, FIG. 8 illustrates one example of a structural designmethod 800 for selective simulation of technical specification coverageassociated with a camera in a floor plan 810.

Disclosed embodiments may involve at least one processor configured toaccess a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms. A floor plan mayinclude a graphic representation of a horizontal section of a buildingor an exterior or both, as discussed in greater detail herein.Demarcating may refer to information indicating the location of one ormore rooms in a plan in relation to the rest of the plan. In someembodiments, a plurality of rooms may include an enclosed section of abuilding designed for a specific purpose, the boundaries of the enclosedsection (sometimes referred to as contours) of the room, the openingsassociated with the room's borders, equipment and/or architecturalfeatures contained within the enclosed section. An architectural featuremay be any part of a building, including a zone, a room, a wall, ahalf-wall, a door, a window, a column, a stairwell, a beam, and/or anyother permanent part of the building, as discussed in greater detailherein. An architectural feature may also be a non-permanent part of thebuilding such as furniture. Identification of architectural features(using vision-based, machine learning, and/or any other type ofcomputational algorithm) may refer to the computational process offinding the meaning intended by a graphic symbol drawn in a floor planor of the graphical symbol and/or metadata of a BIM object. Since theremay be no accepted set of rules for architectural graphic notation, thismay be a difficult task. Disclosed embodiments overcome these challengesby providing means to rapidly, automatically, and accurately identifyarchitectural features irrespective of their format in a given floorplan.

As an illustrative example, FIG. 8 depicts a floor plan 810 with aplurality of demarcated rooms 812 a, 812 b, and 812 c.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, at least one processor may beconfigured to perform at least one of a machine learning method,semantic analysis or geometric analysis on the floor plan to identify atleast one opening associated with at least one room from the pluralityof rooms.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, a machine learning method mayinclude but is not limited to classification models, neural networkmodels, random forest models, Convolutional Neural Network Models, deeplearning models, recurrent Neural network models, support vector machinemodels, a support vector machine model, ensemble prediction models,Adaptive Network Based Inference System, or any other machine learningmodel. Possible deep neural types of CNN's for Computer Vision and otherpotential tasks may vary by tasking and may include Resnet 50 forClassification, RetinaNet and Mask RCNN for Detection- and Unet and MaskRCNN for Segmentation. Embodiments consistent with the presentdisclosure may include structured data models, such as boostingalgorithms (e.g XGBoost), standard neural networks, and random forestmodels. As one of skill in the art will appreciate, machine learning mayinclude training a model to perform a task, the training includingproviding example training data to the model and iteratively optimizingmodel parameters until a training criteria is satisfied. For example, amodel may be trained to classify data using labelled datasets. In someembodiments, a model may be trained to use training input data toproduce an output that closely matches training output data. Modeltraining may include hyperparameter tuning, sizing of mini-batches,regularization, and changes in network architectures. Model training mayinclude augmentations such as rotation of images or addition of noise toan image.

It should be understood that systems and methods contemplated herein mayinclude using available machine learning platforms and/or libraries totrain and/or manage models (e.g., TENSORFLOW, PYTHON, MATLAB, KERAS,MICROSOFT COGNITIVE TOOLKIT, and/or any other machine learningplatform). Various other details regarding the implementation of machinelearning models are described in detail throughout the presentdisclosure.

Further, embodiments may include identifying an egress point and/or adoor (such as an office door) and to include the egress point and/ordoor within the defined area of interest. An egress point may include adoor, ingress, egress, passage, window, and/or other architecturalfeature which can be used to enter or exit a space, as discussed ingreater detail herein. An office door may refer to an opening associatedwith an office.

At least one opening may include one or more of a door, ingress, egress,passage, window, and/or other architectural features which can be usedto enter or exit a space, such as an opening associated with a space.For example, an opening may be associated with a room using graphical ortextual descriptions which indicate that the opening leads to or fromthe space and/or at least one room from the plurality of rooms,respectively. Identifying the at least one opening may include acombination of a machine learning method, semantic analysis, andgeometric analysis. Embodiments may include training models to identifyusing training data sets that include floor plans comprising identifiedroom openings. Such training may be supervised by a human user orunsupervised learning.

By way of example, FIG. 8 depicts the floor plan 820 which hasdemarcated rooms 822 a, 822 b, and 822 c and identified openings 824 a,824 b, 824 c, 824 d, 824 e, and 824 f In this example, openings 824 aand 824 b are associated only with room 822 a, opening 824 c isassociated with both rooms 822 a and 822 c, opening 824 d is associatedwith both rooms 822 b and 822 c, openings 824 e and 824 f are associatedonly with room 822 b, and opening 824 g is associated with both rooms822 a and 822 b.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the at least one processor may beconfigured to access a functional requirement associated with the atleast one opening. A functional requirement may include but is notlimited to a description of performance parameters expected from asystem, as discussed in greater detail herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional requirement may include or be associated with image sensorcoverage, door access control, light control, HVAC control, sensorcoverage for egress points, sensor coverage for doors, light controllersadjacent to doors, access control devices for doors, or any other systemor equipment which may be associated with residential, commercial, orpublic buildings. Image sensor coverage may refer to covering and/ormonitoring an area with a sensor which could be a video surveillancecamera, a temperature sensor, a motion sensor, an occupancy sensor, alight sensor, and any other sensor that may detect and conveyinformation used to make an image.

A controller may refer to a type of equipment used to control (e.g.,regulate) another piece of equipment. A controller may send and receivesignals and other forms of communication to another piece of equipmentor over a network. In some embodiments, a controller may directlyexecute the action using another piece of equipment (e.g., light switchmay directly turn power to lights on or off) or send a command for anintermediate piece of equipment to execute the action (e.g., a buildingmanagement system controller may send a signal to an HVAC actuator whichthen turns an HVAC unit on or off). As an example, a controller mayinclude a light or dimmer switch which regulates the flow of electricityto a light switch or power socket. Other exemplary controllers mayinclude a Building Management System (BMS), lighting controller forlighting, HVAC, or other building system functions. Controllers whichmay be programmed to send signals to an actuator to turn off lights, forexample, at a certain time of the day. Controllers may include athermostat or HVAC controller which receives environmental sensoryinformation such as temperature and then directly turns an AC unit on oroff. Still other examples include an access control controller whichreceives and sends signals to door access controls or other inputs oroutputs (e.g., as door contact and push to exit buttons). Moregenerally, controllers may include any type of equipment used toregulate another piece of equipment and/or send and receive signals andother forms of communication to another piece of equipment over anetwork.

Outputs and inputs to a controller vary and may include, for example,voltage at 110 vAC or 220 vAC, digital inputs, or analog input. Further,a controller may communicate over a network through a variety ofprotocols such as IP, Bacnet/IP, KNX, or ModBUS™, or other communicationprotocols.

Door access control and access control devices for doors may refer to adoor equipped with an access control device, a device which regulatesaccess through an opening by controlling the lock or other closingmechanism on an opening and determining whether it should be in a lockedor unlocked state, or in an open or closed state. For example, a pieceof equipment configured to control or monitor the door may be physicallylocated at or adjacent to the door. Alternatively, or additionally,physical equipment configured to control or monitor the door may belocated remotely from the door. As an example, an access control devicemay include a reader that requires a code to open a door. The code maybe based on biometric data, card data, RFID data, or electronic keydata. The code may be transmitted via Bluetooth, RFID, Wi-Fi, or anyother electronic signal. In some cases, an access control system may becontactless and may not require a user to perform any action such asswiping a card or entering a code. For example, an access control systemmay be comprised of a series of beacons placed in a building whichreceive authentication from transmitters placed on a user card, phone,badge, wallet or other location. When authentication is received, a dooror opening may unlock and/or open automatically. In some cases, anaccess control device may require a physical key to open a door. Anaccess control component such as a reader may be a standalone unit or beintegrated into a larger system. An access reader may be associated witha controller which may send and receive signals from the access reader.In some examples an access control device may also include accessoriessuch as push to exit buttons, door contacts, or power supplies. Anaccess control system may be programmed to grant access to specificindividuals or groups under specific conditions (e.g., within certaintimeframes, or days of the week). For example, all egress points mayrequire an access control reader to allow access inside the building andto have a safety mechanism to allow movement outside the building. Anaccess control system may have applications beyond physical security andmovement through doors and openings. For example, an access controlsystem may track the movement of people or other objects throughout abuilding. An access control system may collect, transmit, and/or analyzedata related to building, zone, space and room occupancy, usage andtraffic patterns. This data may be useful, for example, for spaceplanning which may involve understanding the optimal size, location andquantity of meeting rooms in an office based on analysis of currentusage patterns. As another example, this data may be useful forunderstanding if there may be occupancy levels beyond a certainthreshold in a room (e.g., COVID-19 regulation or advisement foroccupancy) and trigger an alert.

Embodiments may include light control controllers to turn on or off alight, dim a light, flash a light, change a light color, or adjust otherlight conditions. Light controllers may send and receive signals fromlights. A light controller adjacent to a door may be in the form of alight switch, a light dimmer, an actuator, and/or any other device thatmay regulate light in a space. A light controller may be of theconventional variety or a smart switch which may be connected to aBuilding Management System (e.g., KNX light controller) or network(e.g., IP or Bluetooth® connected light switch). A light controller mayalso be in the form of a sensor such as an occupancy sensor or motionsensor connected to the lights and which may trigger a certain action tothe lights. Connections between controllers and lights may be physicalin terms of a direct connection between the controller and the lights.Disclosed embodiments may include virtual connections betweencontrollers and lights, wherein another piece of equipment may mediatesignal between the lights and the controller, and may involveprogramming or sequences of operation. A light controller may be astandalone unit or part of a system. A light controller may directlyexecute an action to another piece of equipment (e.g., light switch)and/or use an intermediate piece of equipment (e.g., an actuator) toperform the action. For example, a light controller may be placed within50 cm of all office doors and movement surrounding the office doors maybe covered with motion detectors so that lights may be turned on/offbased on the movement of individuals coming in and out of offices.

HVAC control may refer to an HVAC controller or, more generally, toequipment used to control HVAC. An HVAC controller may be equipment usedto control heating, cooling, ventilation units such as split-units,fan-coil units, air handling units, fans, and/or any other equipmentwhich may provide thermal comfort and/or acceptable air quality. An HVACcontroller may send and receive signals and other forms of communicationfrom HVAC equipment and a variety of sensors through a thermostat, anactuator, and/or any other device that may regulate HVAC. An HVACcontroller may also be in the form of a sensor such as an occupancysensor or motion sensor connected to HVAC equipment, and which maytrigger a certain action to the equipment. Connections betweencontrollers and HVAC equipment may be physical in terms of a directconnection between the controller and the equipment. In otherembodiments, the connections may be virtual connections wherein anotherpiece of equipment may mediate and/or send/receive signals between theHVAC equipment and the controller, and may involve programming and/orsequences of operation. An HVAC controller may be a standalone unit orpart of a system. An HVAC controller may directly execute an action toanother piece of equipment (e.g., conventional thermostat switch) and/oruse an intermediate piece of equipment (e.g. HVAC actuator) to performthe action. For example, an HVAC controller may be placed within 50 cmof all office doors if the office has an independent HVAC systemallowing such control to regulate any equipment which may providethermal comfort and/or acceptable air quality.

Egress points may allow a building occupant to move from inside abuilding's interior boundary to an exterior point of the building.Egress points may refer to a door, window, and/or any other site whichmay allow a building occupant to move from inside a building's interiorboundary to an exterior point of the building. Egress points may have asensor covering and/or associated with it. In some cases, egress pointsequipped with door access control may refer to egress points having anaccess control reader to allow access inside the building and to have asafety mechanism to allow movement outside the building, as discussed ingreater detail herein. Areas adjacent to office doors equipped withlight controllers may refer to placing a lighting controller in the areasurrounding an office door, as discussed in greater detail herein. Areasadjacent to office doors equipped with HVAC controllers may refer toplacing an HVAC controller in the area surrounding an office door. Anoffice door may refer to an opening associated with an office.

Sensor coverage may refer to covering and/or monitoring an area orspecific point with a sensor, such as a video surveillance camera, atemperature sensor, a motion sensor, an occupancy sensor, a lightsensor, a water leak sensor, a humidity sensor, a door contact sensor, aglass break sensor, and any other device, module, machine, or subsystemwhose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and sendthe information to other electronics and/or to process such events. Anarea covered by a sensor may be at least partially within the sphereand/or cone of coverage of the sensor. There may be different levels ofquality for which a sensor can cover an area (i.e., an occupancy sensormay detect small motions at 4 feet away but only large movements at 15feet away, and a camera may be able to view an individual's face clearlyin one location but only identify movement from another location). Insome embodiments, sensor coverage for egress points may include a sensorcovering or associated with an egress point and/or area locatedsurrounding the egress point. Sensor coverage for doors may include asensor covering or associated with a door and/or area locatedsurrounding the door. For example, all exterior doors may be equippedwith door contact sensors, all guestroom doors may be covered by arespective motion detector, and/or all egress doors may be covered bysecurity cameras at a certain level of pixel density.

Accessing the functional requirement may include accessing at least twofunctional requirements associated with at least one opening. As anexample, an opening may be associated with a requirement to providelighting at a predetermined level on the opening and a requirement toenable the identification of persons passing through the opening. Asanother example, an opening may be associated with a requirement todetect the temperature of building occupants as they pass through theopening and to validate their security credentials. Accordingly, thesystem may perform a generative analysis to satisfy these requirementsby selecting and placing appropriate equipment (e.g., a light and acamera). In some cases, two or more functional requirements mayconflict, such as a requirement for privacy in a bathroom that conflictswith a requirement to provide camera coverage of all spaces in a floorplan. In such cases, the system may determine which requirement appliesbased on user input (e.g., by querying a user to resolve a conflict),based on a stored rule indicating an order of precedence, or by applyinga model trained to resolve conflicts. In some embodiments, the accessingthe functional requirement may include accessing at least two functionalrequirements of different types associated with the at least oneopening. For example, one requirement may relate to climate control(e.g., an acceptable temperature range), and another requirement mayrelate to Wi-Fi coverage.

As an illustrative example, FIG. 8 depicts a functional requirement 831which may be accessed by the at least one processor which recites“Camera with X pixel density looking at the door interior.” In thisexample, the functional requirement is describing the performanceexpected by the system, i.e., that the system must include a camera witha pixel density “X” which looks at the door interior (one of the doorfaces).

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the at least one processor may beconfigured to access at least one rule that associates the functionalrequirement with the at least one opening. At least one rule may be usedto apply functional requirements, identify a space and/or placeequipment. A rule, in this context, may be a logical construct of thetype “if A then B” used to create a cause and effect relationship in thecomputational design process. More generally, rules may include anyBoolean logical expression. For example, rules may include statements to“place a light switch next to every door,” “apply a certain functionalrequirement to all offices,” or “identify a room as a restroom if itcontains a urinal.” Logical constructs may also be expressed inexclusionary or negative terms. For example, constructs may include astatement such as “do not place a camera with a view of a toilet stall.”Further, constructs may include composite rules that combine multiplerules, such as “(i) place a camera on every door that leads to astairway and (ii) is numbered with a 3.” Embodiments may include a rulewhich specifies that egress points are to be included with image sensorcoverage, egress points are to be equipped with door access control,areas adjacent to office doors are to be equipped with lightcontrollers, or areas adjacent to office doors are to be equipped withHVAC controllers.

By way of example, FIG. 8 depicts a rule 833 which may be accessed bythe processor which recites “Door to exterior.” In this example, therule may specify that the functional requirement 831 must be applied todoors which lead to the exterior, that is, egress doors. Functionalrequirement 831 and the rule 833 may be used by the at least oneprocessor to establish that a camera must be placed at each egress doorfrom within the building to cover an area of interest adjacent to theinterior side of the door. Therefore, in this example, the rule mayspecify that openings 844 a, 844 b, 844 e, and 844 f may be associatedwith areas of interest and openings 824 c, 824 d, and 824 f from floorplan 820 may not be associated with areas of interest.

Embodiments may include using at least one rule and a functionalrequirement to define at least one of an area of interest ordisinterest. The area of interest or disinterest may be less than (i.e.,smaller than) an area of the at least one room. Alternatively, oradditionally, an area of interest or disinterest may be equal to orlarger than an area of a room. In some cases, an area of interest mayintersect or be placed within the demarcations and contours of aplurality of rooms. For example, a portion of the AOI may be inside anoffice near the door and another portion may outside the office in acorridor. By way of example, an area of interest may include at leastone of a door, corridor, window, egress, work plane, desk, bed, and/orany other space where a functional requirement may be applied. An egressmay refer to an opening. A work plane may refer to an abstract planewhich may be set at a certain height (e.g., 80-85 cm in offices). Thework plane symbolizes the height of tables or any other work surfaces inthat space. The work plane is often used for simulations such aslighting as it is the place where light should be measured. As anotherexample, an area of disinterest may include at least one of asurrounding area of a restroom door, fire escape door, egress door,server room door, stairwell door, office door, bedroom door, and/or anyother space where a functional requirement may not be applied. A fireescape door may be a door leading from one room in a floor plan toanother room which serves as a fire safety zone (i.e., a place fire maytake a long time to get into and/or may be separated by physicalfire-retardant properties such as fire doors and/or fire walls) and/or afire escape route (i.e., the route used when escaping a fire).

A room or space may contain more than one area of interest ordisinterest. For example, defining at least one of an area of interestor disinterest may include defining an area of interest and an area ofdisinterest or defining at least two areas of interest associated withthe at least one room. To illustrate this principle, embodiments mayinclude defining an area of disinterest to avoid illumination, such asdirectly over bed, and defining an area of interest to provide lightingat a high intensity within the same room, such as an area in front of amirror. As another example, two distinct areas of interest within a sameroom may be associated with desired camera coverage, such as respectiveareas adjacent to two egresses on opposite sides of a room. Moregenerally, embodiments may include defining any combination of one ormore areas of interest or disinterest.

By way of example, FIG. 8 depicts two defined areas of interest (AOI),AOI 846 a and AOI 846 b, which are adjacent to openings 844 a, 844 b,844 e, and 844 f, respectively.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the at least one processor may beconfigured to access a technical specification associated with thefunctional requirement. In some embodiments, the technical specificationmay include but is not limited to one or more of an equipmentspecification, a model identifier, and/or any technical characteristicdescribing one or more properties of a piece of equipment, as discussedin greater detail herein. Technical specifications may be associatedwith functional requirements in data structures including, for example,databases such as relational databases. For example, a functionalrequirement may involve a level of light intensity and an associatedtechnical specification may include a brightness of a light fixture. Asanother example, a functional requirement may involve network coverage,and an associated technical specification may specify a signal range, asignal strength, a connection speed, or other network property. Moregenerally, a particular technical specification may be associated with afunctional requirement if that technical specification containsinformation that may indicate a piece of equipment's ability to satisfythe functional requirement. In the embodiments, accessing a technicalspecification associated with a functional requirement may includeidentifying an associated technical specification using a rule or amodel trained to associate technical specifications and functionalrequirements. In some embodiments, a user may associate a technicalspecification with a functional requirement.

By way of example, in FIG. 8, the at least one processor may access atechnical specification (not shown) associated with functionalrequirement 831. The technical specification may include one or moreequipment specifications and/or model identifiers related to a camerawhich may provide “X” pixel density when facing a door interior at acertain distance.

Embodiments may include generatively analyzing at least one room inconjunction with a technical specification and a defined area ofinterest or disinterest to define a solution that at least partiallyconforms to a functional requirement. As disclosed, generative analysismay refer to a process in which a solution to a problem, geometric,mathematical, physical, or otherwise, may be arrived at by acomputational device. A solution in this context may include locating atype of a piece of equipment in a way that satisfies demands of aproblem. Generally, a solution to a generative analysis may include butis not limited to a technical specification, an ID of a piece ofequipment, an equipment location, a setting, a technical detail,technical characteristic, customized setting, programming parameter, orany combination of the foregoing. A solution may describe a simulationperformed in relation to the functional requirements defined as thetarget of the simulation. In some embodiments, a solution may include:placement of a controller associated with the technical specification ofan outputted equipment; a technical specification of a controllerassociated with the technical specification of an outputted equipment;or a technical specification of an auxiliary equipment associated withthe technical specification of an outputted equipment; the technicalspecification of an accessory associated with the technicalspecification of an outputted equipment. For example, a solution mayinclude a placement of a controller associated with primary or auxiliaryequipment. As disclosed, auxiliary equipment (i.e., accessory) mayinclude but is not limited to a piece of electronic, mechanic or anyother type of hardware that may be an accessory or serves in asupporting role in a system devised of one or more primary pieces ofequipment. For example, the auxiliary equipment for a video camera mayinclude cables, screws, fixings of a patch panel, a video recorder, anetwork switch, a rack, and/or a UPS. As another example, auxiliaryequipment for a light fixture may include cables, a light switch, and/ora main electric board.

A solution may include a wiring diagram associated with the technicalspecification of an outputted piece of equipment; a customized equipmentsetting; an equipment classification; a programming parameter; anequipment height; a graphical indication of equipment placement on thefloor plan; a graphical indication on the floor plan of equipmentdirectionality; and/or any other placement or type of equipment whichsatisfies the demands of the problem. As disclosed, a wiring diagram mayinclude a representation of the electrical, audio, video, data or anyother cables connecting pieces of equipment to each other. Methods ofgenerating wiring diagrams and types of such diagrams are discussed ingreater detail elsewhere herein. Further, examples of a customizedequipment setting or a customized equipment configuration may includeprogramming a piece of equipment in a manner that differs from defaultfactory settings. Customizing equipment may include setting or alteringa physical component of a piece of equipment, combining one or morepieces of equipment, customizing physical properties of one or morepieces of equipment, or other types of customization as disclosedherein.

A generative analysis may be associated with or be performed inconjunction with a requirement and/or a defined area of interest ordisinterest as an input and/or a technical specification as at least oneof the definitions of the problem it attempts to solve when generating anew solution to a problem, simulating a solution and comparing itsperformance to a performance of another solution and retaining thebetter performing solution, and/or iteratively implementing an algorithmuntil a performance criterion is satisfied.

As disclosed, generative analysis may include using machine learning orany other process in which a solution to a problem, geometric,mathematical, physical, or otherwise, may be arrived at by acomputational device. Machine learning may include algorithms thatimprove automatically through experience, in the process of generativelyanalyzing the at least one room. For example, when running a pluralityof simulations or a series of simulations, a first answer to a problemmay be posited (e.g., cameras placed in the room) and then a performanceof the answer may be tested by simulation. An optimization engine maythen repeat this process a plurality of times, trying differentsolutions and may attempt to improve the performance using one of manyavailable optimization algorithms which may include but are not limitedto genetic algorithms, annealing algorithms, particle swarmoptimization, machine learning algorithms, and/or any algorithm whichmay repeat a process a plurality of times and improve on a performancethroughout. A machine learning model such as a Convolutional NeuralNetwork may be trained to predict equipment placement using the inputsof the geometry of the rooms in which the series of simulations havebeen performed, the optimization results, and/or the associatedfunctional requirement.

Generatively analyzing may, in some embodiments, include running asimulation in the defined area of interest that includes an egress pointassociated with the at least one room. Running a simulation may includebut is not limited to a process in which a spatial situation may bemodeled in the computer in 2D or 3D and one or more pieces of equipmentmay be situated in that space, the function of the one or more pieces ofequipment may be analyzed, and a numeric score which may describe orindicate a performance of the one or more pieces of equipment for aspecific task may be provided, as described in greater detail herein.Running a simulation in the defined area of interest may include runningthe aforementioned simulation wherein the space may be the defined areaof interest. For example, a simulation may consider coverage or otheraspects of equipment performance in an area of interest or disinterestthat include an egress point. The simulation may also considerperformance outside the area of interest. For example, the simulationmay determine a level of coverage (e.g., signal strength, percent areacovered) within an area of interest, and may additionally considerresults relating to other areas of a floor plan. In some aspects,generatively analyzing may include running a simulation on the definedarea of interest that includes doors associated with the at least oneroom. It may include running a plurality of simulations. Running aplurality of simulations may also refer to running a series ofsimulations, which may in turn refer to a specific type of generativeanalysis sometimes called optimization, as described in greater detailherein.

Further, generative analysis may include implementing a variety oftechniques involving an area of interest or disinterest, including, forexample, performing at least one of topological analysis, semanticanalysis, geometric analysis and/or a machine learning method todetermine a preferred door face for a sensor to cover, a lightingcontroller, or an access control device. For example, based on a definedarea of interest, embodiments may include identifying door openingsassociated with the defined area of interest and determining a preferreddoor face of the identified door. To illustrate this example, an area ofinterest adjacent to an inside of a door may be associated with afunctional requirement to maintain restricted access, and the generativeanalysis may determine a location of an access control device on anoutside of the door. The analysis may locate a light to assist in use ofthe access control device, and it may locate a camera to assist inidentification of persons attempting to access the restricted area ofinterest.

In some examples, generatively analyzing may include calculating adistance of the at least one opening to an architectural feature or to apiece of equipment. Calculating a distance of the at least one openingto an architectural feature or to a piece of equipment may refer todetermining a distance from one point of a floor plan (i.e., an opening)to another point of the floor plan (i.e., an architectural featureand/or a piece of equipment) through any of image analysis, semanticanalysis, geometric analysis, and/or any combination thereof. Suchdistance calculations may reflect a shortest distance between an openingand an architectural feature or a piece of equipment as would benavigable by a person walking between the points but around objects in afloor plan (e.g., walking around walls). Distances may be calculatedbased on a shortest distance without regard to intervening object in afloor plan. Distance calculations may reflect distance a wiring path maynavigate between two points (e.g., based on a preference to route wiresin public spaces). More generally, distance calculations may be based onrules describing a method of navigation between two points that accountsfor objects in a floor plan.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the at least one processor may befurther configured to ignore areas of the at least one room other thanthe defined area of interest or disinterest. To ignore areas of the atleast one room other than the defined area of interest or disinterestmay refer to the generative analysis not considering the area outside ofthe area of interest or disinterest as a possible solution space tooutput a solution in (e.g., cannot place equipment in the ignored area).The processor may also ignore any inputs available within this ignoredspace, such as area, architectural features, furniture, and/or any otherdata that may exist in the area outside of the area of interest ordisinterest when performing the generative analysis process.

Generative analysis may include performing an analysis of availablespace for an outputted solution. Performing an analysis of availablespace for the outputted solution may refer to determining an area and/orvolume of the defined area of interest or disinterest through any ofimage analysis, semantic analysis, geometric analysis, and/or anycombination thereof. For example, the analysis may identify spaceavailable for or associated with an installation of equipment based on adetermined equipment placement location. Embodiments may includeidentifying an equipment placement location and a maximize areal extentof the equipment that may be sited at that location without intruding onother objects in a floor plan (e.g., a maximum couch size). Additionallyor alternatively, an analysis of available space may indicate a distancebetween a selected equipment placement location and other objects in afloor plan (e.g., other equipment, architectural features, etc.).

Performing topological analysis may refer to an analysis of theconnectivity of rooms, spaces, zones and floors within a floor plan thatmay reveal information regarding the properties of the rooms, spaces,zones and floors. A topological analysis may define relationshipsbetween rooms and their position in the floor plan hierarchy using thedoors that connect them to create spatial maps. A spatial map may bedescribed as weighted graphs and graph properties such as connectivityand shortest paths. Topological analysis may employ geometric analysis,which may include an interrogation of a BIM, CAD, PDF, and/or any 2D or3D floor plan containing geometric entities such as lines, polylines,arcs, circles, and/or vectors. Topological analysis may employ semanticanalysis which may include interrogating and parsing a BIM file forinformation regarding room connectivity, room adjacencies, and/or roomopenings such as doors. Door faces (i.e., a side of a door) may swing inone direction and not the other, so opposing door faces may behavedifferently because one face may open inward while the other may openoutward. Determining a preferred door face may include establishingwhich door face may be optimal for a desired result. For example, whendetermining a preferred door face for a door required to be covered witha sensor, topological analysis may establish that one side of the dooris better suited for a particular sensor than the other. As an example,it may determine that the side of the door facing a corridor is moresuitable. As another example, when determining a preferred door face fora lighting controller, topological analysis may establish that one sideof the door is better suited for the lighting controller than the other,e.g., a light controller may be located on a side of a wallcorresponding to a door fact that is easier to reach for an individualentering or exiting a space through the door. In some embodiments, apreferred door face may be identified by means of a machine learningmethod.

As an illustrative example, in FIG. 8, the at least one processor maygeneratively analyze rooms 852 a and 852 b in conjunction with thetechnical specification (not shown) which may include one or moreequipment specifications and/or model identifiers related to a camerawhich may provide “X” pixel density when facing a door interior at acertain distance and AOIs 856 a and 856 b to define a solution that atleast partially conforms to the functional requirement 831. In thisexample, the solution includes the placement of cameras 858 a and 858 bhaving respective unique equipment specifications and/or modelidentifiers at specific locations in rooms 852 a and 852 b,respectively, and having an orientation, direction, rotation, and/ortilt.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the at least one processor may beconfigured to output the solution. An output may be a graphicaldepiction of equipment location or types which are the result of thegenerative analysis process, as described in greater detail herein.Outputting a solution may include transmitting the solution, storing thesolution in memory, or any other means of transferring data associatedwith the solution from one media or device (e.g., from local memory) toanother media or device (e.g., to a display, cloud storage).

By way of example, FIG. 8 depicts a representation of an outputtedsolution. In this example, the solution is presented to a user on ascreen 860, the user may then view and interact with the outputtedsolution, which may take the form of a text document, a chart, an imagefile, a vector image file, a vector architectural file, and/or a BIMmodel. A user might interact with a solution by selecting options thatpermit other solutions of the generative analysis to be displayed and/orcompared. Additionally, or alternatively, the user might be able tomodify aspects of the solution and determine how the modificationimpacts other aspects of the outcome. For example, a user might be ableto select an alternative piece of equipment and view how that changeimpacts cost and/or conformance with functional requirements. Or a usermight prefer a different location for a selected piece of equipment, andmight move the equipment and have the system run an update on how themovement impacts compliance with a functional requirement.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the at least one processor may befurther configured to generate a bill of material based on the outputtedsolution. A bill of material, also referred to as a “material list” oras a “bill of quantities,” may be a list describing the primary,secondary, and/or auxiliary equipment required to physically construct abuilding system. A bill of material may be a list of equipment modelswhich may include the specific model, the quantity used, priceinformation, specific properties, a physical description, and/or anyother property which may describe a piece of electronic, mechanic, orany other type of hardware, cabinetry, or furniture that has a functionand a technical specification. A bill of material may include an imageof the equipment. A bill of material may be displayed on a screen orexported to a textual (e.g., Word), tabular (e.g., Excel), or image(e.g., .jpg, .pdf) format. A bill of material may be electronicallytransmitted by email or via the Internet to third-party software, ERPsystems, and/or any other system which may receive data or files via anetwork.

By way of example, FIG. 7A illustrates one example of a structuraldesign method 700 for selective simulation of coverage associated with aswitch in a floor plan 710 with a plurality of demarcated rooms 712 a,712 b, 712 c, 712 d, 712 e, 712 f. The method may be implemented, forexample, using a system including a processor (not shown). To the extentspecific details and examples were already discussed previously, theyare not repeated with reference to FIG. 7A. In this example, theprocessor may identify a door 724 associated with room 722 c. Theprocessor may access a functional requirement 731 which recites “Placeswitch within 2 meters of door, taking swing and preferred face intoaccount.” The preferred face may have been defined, for example, to bethe face of the door inside a room rather than the face inside acorridor. In this example, functional requirement 731 is describing theplacement of a piece of equipment in a system.

The processor may define an area of interest (AOI) 726 which may includea circular area of radius 2 m surrounding door 724, per functionalrequirement 731. In this example, the processor may then access atechnical specification (not shown) associated with functionalrequirement 731. The technical specification may include one or moreequipment specifications and/or model identifiers related to a switchwhich may be placed within 2 meters of a door. The processor may thengeneratively analyze room 722 c in conjunction with the technicalspecification (not shown) and AOI 726 to define a solution that at leastpartially conforms to functional requirement 731. In this example, thesolution may include identifying a door swing direction 727 (e.g., lefthand in-swing) and a preferred face 728 (e.g., indoors) and placing theswitch 730 having a unique equipment specification and/or modelidentifier at a specific location in room 722 c with a specificorientation.

By way of example, FIG. 7B illustrates one example of a structuraldesign method 701 for selective simulation of coverage associated with aswitch in a floor plan 710 with a plurality of demarcated rooms 712 a,712 b, 712 c, 712 d, 712 e, 712 f wherein floor plan 710 includes anexisting controller. In this example, the existing controller may beswitch 730 from FIG. 7A. The method may be implemented, for example,using a system including a processor (not shown). In this example, theprocessor may, such as in FIG. 7A, identify a door 724 associated withroom 722 c. The processor may access a functional requirement 733 whichrecites “Place switch within 2 meters of door, taking swing andpreferred face into account, group with existing controllers.” In thisexample, functional requirement 733 is describing the placement of apiece of equipment in a system, such as in FIG. 7A, with the additionalaspect that the switch be grouped with existing controllers, i.e.,switch 730.

The processor may define an area of interest (AOI) 726 which may includea circular area of radius 2 m surrounding door 724, per functionalrequirement 733. In this example, the processor may then access atechnical specification (not shown) associated with functionalrequirement 733. The technical specification may include one or moreequipment specifications and/or model identifiers related to a switchwhich may be placed within 2 meters of a door. The processor may thengeneratively analyze room 722 c in conjunction with the technicalspecification (not shown) and AOI 726 to define a solution that at leastpartially conforms to functional requirement 733. In this example, thesolution may include identifying a door swing direction 727 (e.g., lefthand in-swing), a preferred face 728 (e.g., indoors), and existingcontrollers (e.g., switch 730) and placing the switch 732 having aunique equipment specification and/or model identifier at a specificlocation in room 722 c with a specific orientation.

FIG. 9 further illustrates another example of a structural design method900 for selective simulation of technical specification coverage in afloor plan. The method may be implemented, by way of example, using asystem including at least one processor (not shown). To the extentspecific details and examples were already discussed previously, theyare not repeated with reference to FIG. 9.

At block 902 in FIG. 9, the at least one processor may access a floorplan demarcating a plurality of rooms. Accessing a floor plan mayinclude obtaining, examining, and/or retrieving data and/or filesassociated with the floor plan. The floor plan may be in a variety offormats, as disclosed. Further, accessing a floor plan demarcating aplurality of rooms may include analyzing the floor plan to determinecontours.

At block 904 the at least one processor may perform at least one of amachine learning method, semantic analysis, or geometric analysis on thefloor plan to identify at least one opening associated with at least oneroom from the plurality of rooms. For example, the system may identify adoor, a window, an egress or other opening.

At block 906, the at least one processor may access a functionalrequirement associated with the at least one opening. Block 906 mayfurther include identifying a door face associated with a functionalrequirement.

At block 908, the processor may access at least one rule that associatesthe functional requirement with the at least one opening. For example,the system may use a rule may to apply functional requirements, identifya space, and/or place equipment.

At block 910, the at least one processor may use the at least one ruleand the functional requirement to define at least one of an area ofinterest or disinterest less than an area of the at least one room.

At block 912, the at least one processor may access a technicalspecification associated with the functional requirement. This mayinclude retrieving the associated technical specification from memory(e.g., from a data structure or a database). Block 912 may, in someexamples, include determining a technical specification associated withthe functional requirement using a trained model, as disclosed herein.

At block 914, the at least one processor generatively analyzes the atleast one room in conjunction with the technical specification and thedefined area of interest or disinterest to define a solution that atleast partially conforms to the functional requirement.

At block 916 of FIG. 9, the at least one processor may then output thesolution. The output may be a graphical depiction of equipment locationor types which are the result of the generative analysis process, asdiscussed in greater detail herein.

Aspects of this disclosure may include systems, methods and computerreadable media for rule-based application of functional requirements tospaces in a floor plan. For example, disclosed embodiments may include astructural design system for rule-based application of functionalrequirements to spaces in a floor plan. Architectural plans may includesemantic designations identifying, for example, a room type. Embodimentsmay include processes for semantic enrichment of floor plans, whichrefers to a process of adding missing or misrepresented semanticinformation (e.g., classifications, labels, names, or other semanticdesignations). Exemplary aspects of semantic enrichment processes aredescribed throughout including, for example, as described in relation toFIG. 10E. Adding semantic designations to architectural plans may be adifficult and labor intensive task. Disclosed embodiments may simplifythis process by semantically enriching floor plans to add new or changeexisting semantic designations associated with spaces of the floor plan.Embodiments include using a variety of automated approaches thatconsider geometric or other image properties of floor plans and useartificial intelligence models to semantically enrich floor plans. Insome embodiments, rules may be applied to information derived from thesemantic enrichment of architectural renderings. A processor may run aseries of tasks, for example, to identify spaces within a floor plan orother architectural rendering and perform semantic enrichment on thefloor plan to associate the spaces with semantic designations.

For ease of discussion, a method is described below, with theunderstanding that aspects of the method apply equally to systems,devices, and computer-readable media. For example, some aspects of sucha method may occur electronically over a network that is wired,wireless, or both. Other aspects of such a method may occur usingnon-electronic means. In a broadest sense, the method is not limited toparticular physical and/or electronic instrumentalities, but rather maybe accomplished using many differing instrumentalities.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, a method may include accessing afloor plan demarcating a plurality of spaces. Accessing may occur, forexample, when a floor plan is opened, uploaded, linked, retrieved,recovered, extracted, or otherwise provided to or obtained for analysisby at least one processor. In some embodiments, accessing may occur whenat least one processor is enabled to perform operations on the floorplan. Accessing may occur when a floor plan is retrieved from storage,such as a form of memory. A floor plan may be accessed from a variety oflocations including from a network location, such as a remote server, anetwork attached storage drive, a remote database, a cloud storageservice, or other types of network storage. In some embodiments, floorplan may be stored in and accessed from local storage, such as a storagedevice associated with the processor or a local database. In someembodiments, the processor may access a floor plan through a dataconnection to a scanner, camera, or other device capable of capturingimages. Floor plans may also be accessed in other suitable ways, asdescribed herein.

Floor plans may be in any suitable format. For example, a floor plan maybe represented in hand drawn or scanned images. In some embodiments,floor plans may be a CAD file or other type of vector-based, an imagefile, 3D file format. Disclosed embodiments may include floor plans inbuilding information model (“BIM”) files. and/or any other graphical ordigital format. In some embodiments, a floorplan may be represented as adata structure. Floor plans may be in digital and hard copy formats, orboth. A floor plan may include a diagram of a room, a suite of rooms, awhole floor of rooms, or an entire building of rooms. For example, thefloor plan may include such representations as viewed from above. Afloor plan may consist of other associated information with theplurality of rooms including technical specifications, functionalrequirements, equipment lists, energy metering, BMS data, iOT data, andother types of information as described herein. The floor plan may beconstructed in a 2D format, 3D format or any combination thereof. Insome embodiments, the data structure of the original floor plan orarchitectural file (e.g. BIM file) may be converted to another format.For example, a CAD or IFC file may be converted to a gzip compressedJSON object containing hierarchical buildings information. The JSONobject may be constructed in a way that represents the hierarchy of oneor multiple buildings. The information stored in the object may containmetadata, architectural features (including but not limited to roomgeometry, doors, windows, furniture, and/or equipment), andadvanced/processed geometry/metrics/information about each element (e.g.buildings, levels, and rooms). Converting drawings in raw binary format(such as CAD or RVT) into gzipped JSON objects may result in reducedmemory (relevant to both lesser costs of hosting the files; the time itmay take to send the drawing from one service to another; the time itmay take to download the file from file hosting services or databases),as well as allowing for further possible processing of otherapplications that may not able to naively process the drawings in theirraw binary form. In some embodiments, the gzipped JSON object may bereferred to as a BMD.

In some embodiments, floor plans may demarcate a plurality of spaces.Spaces within a floor plan may indicate rooms other areas within abuilding or structure. For example, a space may be an office, corridor,conference room, sleeping area, kitchen, balcony, staircase, or otherarea of a building or structure. An office may be a single room orplurality of rooms used for work. For example, an office may include adesk, chair, and computer. An office can be a private office for asingle individual, a shared office for many individuals, or an open planoffice. A corridor may be a passageway in a building from with openingssuch as doors leading into rooms. Corridors may be of various shapes,such as a narrow shape. For example, a corridor may be a long or short ahallway that connects rooms. A sleeping area may be an area where peoplesleep, including but not limited to, a bedroom, hospital room, hotelguestroom. A sleeping area may include a bed, mattress, futon,convertible sofa bed, or other furniture suitable for sleeping.

Spaces are not limited to rooms or areas within a building or structure.For example, in some embodiments, spaces may include exterior areas of abuilding or structure, such as a garden, lawn, balcony, patio, deck,gazebo, roof, sidewalk, driveway, parking lot, parking garage, fireescape, or other exterior area related to a building or structure.

A space demarcation may include information relating to a floor planthat may indicate the location of a space in a plan in relation to therest of the plan. A space demarcation may also include the boundaries(also referred to herein as contours) of a space. Boundaries may includeobjects, real or imaginary, that constitute borders of a space or room(such as walls or windows that surround a room), openings associatedwith the space's borders (such as doors or windows leading in and out ofa room), equipment and/or architectural features (such as columns,beams, furniture, or others) contained in or around the space.

In some embodiments, floorplan analysis may be performed on the floorplan to identify contours of a plurality of demarcated spaces of thefloor plan, as described throughout the present disclosure. Floor plananalysis may include using geometric analysis, semantic analysis, BIManalysis, image analysis, or machine learning methods, as describedherein. More generally, floorplan analysis may include extractinginformation about the floor plan from a BIM, CAD, PDF, image, skeletalmodel, or other type of floor plan. Floorplan analysis may be used tolocate rooms, room areas, room volumes, room boundary segments, roomborders, doors, windows, stairs, furniture, equipment or any otherfeature of a floor plan. In some embodiments, a floorplan analysis mayindicate the type of feature detected. In some embodiments, the bordersor contours of a room may not initially be demarcated in the floor planin a machine readable format. Accordingly, accessing the floor plan mayinclude identifying demarcations in the floor plan, as described ingreater detail herein. As described herein, contours may be boundariesor other indicators of a space that show a space relative to otherspaces within the floor plan.

In some embodiments, floor plans may include representations offurniture. Furniture may describe large movable equipment used to make ahouse, office, or other space suitable for living or working. Furnituremay include tables, chairs, seats, sofas, beds, desks, cabinets,shelves, benches, wardrobes, lamps, or other types of moveable equipmentas disclosed herein. In some embodiments, furniture may also includedecorative articles such as potted plants or artwork, including statues,pottery, sculptures, paintings, pictures, taxidermy, fountains, andother physical works of art. In some embodiments, furniture may alsoinclude other equipment that is built-in, fixed or not easily moveable,such as a bench, table, bookcase, or other piece of equipment affixed tothe floor, ceiling, and/or wall of a building. Furniture may begraphically depicted in a floor plan. For example, furniture may begraphically depicted by a symbol, picture, drawing, or other suitablerepresentation.

In some embodiments, floor plans may include or reference architecturalfeatures. An architectural feature may be any part of a building orstructure. Architectural features may include a zone, a room, wall, ahalf wall, a door, a window, a column, stairs, a handrail, a beam or anyother permanent part of the building. An architectural feature mightalso be a non-permanent item present within the space of a building anddepicted in the floor plan, such a piece of furniture, signage orcabinetry.

Some floor plans may lack information that provides context to theviewer, such as labels, tags, or designations that classify areas orspecific features of the floor plan. A complex floor plan with manyrooms, all lacking any type of label, might not be as useful to theviewer as a floor plan in which each room, as well as the furniture orequipment within the room, is precisely labeled according to a certainclassification. Disclosed embodiments may include performing semanticenrichment on the plurality of spaces in order to determine a semanticdesignation for at least one space of the plurality of spaces. Semanticenrichment may refer to the process of adding missing or misrepresentedsemantic information to an architectural floor plan (e.g., as describedin relation to FIG. 10E). Semantic information may include semanticdesignations, labels, tags, classifiers, symbols, and other contextproviding features of a floor plan. Semantic enrichment may be used toclassify a room type by recognizing features of the room. For example,an office may be recognized because it may be a small, square room witha door, window, desk, and chair. Or, even if not illustrated withfurniture, artificial intelligence techniques might enable the system torecognize a floor plan as being associated with an office suite, andmight automatically recognize a room as an office. Semantic enrichmentmay also be used to classify a room type by its tag according to a givenschema without being dependent on the original draftsman being aware ofthe requirements of the schema. For example, a room labeled as “Guy'scubicle” may be classified as an office, based at least in part on thelabel. In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may be used to identifya type of furniture, for example, a chair, table, desk, bed, or anyother pieces of furniture. In some embodiments, furniture may berepresented by a graphical symbol or other representation on a floorplan.

Performing semantic enrichment may include, but is not limited to, theuse of semantic, geometric, topological, image analysis, or machinelearning methods together with a computational algorithm as disclosedherein (for example, heuristic, stochastic, machine learning based, orother algorithm types as disclosed herein). For example, a floor planmay be analyzed to determine features of spaces within the floor plan,such as demarcations, areas, volumes, tags, labels, existing names,classification codes, architectural features, furniture, equipment, andother relevant information. While semantic, geometric, topological andimage analysis are provided as examples, semantic enrichment is notlimited to including only these types of analysis. The analysis mayresult in a variety of data that may be used as input into an algorithm.The algorithm may then be executed, using the input data to determineone or more semantic designations for spaces of the floor plan based onthe analysis and any determined features. In some embodiments, semanticenrichment may be performed using multiple types of analysis or multiplecomputational algorithms. Various types of analyses and algorithms thatbe used to implement semantic enrichment are described below.Nonlimiting examples of semantic enrichment processes are presented inconnection with FIG. 10D and FIG. 10E.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, a semantic designation may be aclassification of a room or an architectural feature according to afixed schema (i.e., organizational data structure) that includesinformation such as a name, purpose, or characteristics of a room. Inthe case of rooms for example, a semantic designation of the room may be“office”, “toilet” or “corridor.” In the case of furniture, adesignation may be “chair”, “desk” or “door”. In the case of equipment,a designation may be “thermostat,” “fan-coil unit,” “sensor,” or “lightswitch.” Further, semantic designations may be chosen from a limitedlist of possibilities. Such a list may be formed according to a standardfor architectural semantic designations. A standard for semanticdesignations may be a classification standard such as Uniclass,Omniclass, MasterFormat or other standards. In some embodiments, thestandard may be a unique standard of an individual architect, plannerand/or designer. In some cases, the semantic designation on CAD, PDF orBIM floor plans may be missing from the data, or not clear (e.g., a roomis labeled “accounting” instead of “office”) and need to be replacedwith a different designation in order to be read by a computer. Thus,disclosed embodiments may use semantic enrichment techniques to add orchange semantic designations on floor plans without the need for aplanner to manually edit the semantic designations for each part of thefloor plan.

In additional or alternative examples, a semantic designation mayidentify a function of a space or room. A room function may indicate ordescribe the purpose, use, or occupancy inside of a room. For example, aroom may be a space used for eating, cooking, holding meetings,exercising, sleeping, storage, work or other functions. In someembodiments, the semantic designation may inherently identify afunction, for example, when the semantic designation is “storage.” Inother embodiments, a function of a may be implied in a semanticdesignation. For example, it may be implied that “bedroom” is forsleeping. In some embodiments, a semantic designation may be otherwiseassociated with a function. For example, a standard such as Omniclass,MasterFormat, Uniclass or Industry Foundation Classes may includecertain functions that are associated with the specified semanticdesignations. As another example, the data structure of a floor plan maybe such that semantic designations may be stored in association with oneor more functions in a data structure or index.

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may include asemantic analysis. A semantic analysis may include but is not limited toan analysis of a BIM, CAD or PDF file which interrogates parameters andattributes of elements in the file. For example, in a CAD file, asemantic analysis may include checking the name of the layer an entityis drawn in, the type of entity, or the type of line it is representedwith. As another example, a semantic analysis may include using the nameof a CAD block to determine the type of element it describes. In a BIMmodel, a large amount of information may be contained within semantic,textual fields as object properties and attributes. In this type offile, a semantic analysis may yield information regarding the type andthe physical makeup of architectural elements and equipment. Forexample, a semantic analysis may determine a type of wall, itsstructure, its fire rating, or its dimensions. For example, a semanticanalysis may determine the model number, family, dimensions, 2D image,3D image and other metadata associated with a BIM object of a desk. Asemantic analysis of a BIM file may also yield information regarding thetype, model or manufacturer, technical characteristics, 2D image, 3Dimage and other metadata associated with of equipment. In these files asemantic analysis may also yield relationships or associations betweendifferent elements in the floor plan, for example an association of awall with a door within it, or a wall with the room it borders. Semanticanalysis can also yield information regarding the function of a room orelement (e.g. sleeping area, office, storage space, etc.). A semanticanalysis may include Natural Language Processing algorithms such asword2vector used to infer semantic meaning even when it is not clearlyrepresented in the data. For example, a Natural Language Processing orsimilar algorithm may be used to infer that “hallway” is another wordfor a “corridor” or that a “recliner” is a type of “sofa.”

In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may include performing ageometric analysis on the floor plan. As used herein, a geometricanalysis may include any form analysis for extracting information from afloor plan based on geometries represented in the floor plan. Ageometric analysis may include an interrogation of a floor planrepresented in a BIM, CAD, PDF or any file format containing geometricentities such as lines, polylines, arcs circles or vectors. Thegeometric analysis may use coordinates (e.g., XYZ coordinates) of endpoints of entities to determine properties of the entities and theirrelationship each other. For example, information derived from ageometric analysis may include line length, line direction, the locationof geometric objects in the floor plan, or any other propertiesrepresented in the floor plan. The geometric analysis may includesearching the floor plan for sets of parallel lines or vectors,perpendicular lines or vectors or lines in a certain angle, which may beindicative of walls or other boundaries of a room. The geometricanalysis may include measuring distances between entities and find pairsof entities close to each other, identifying sets of entities thatcreate patterns which repeat in different locations in the floor plan,finding relations of inclusion between a point and a closed geometry, orany other relationships between points, lines, or shapes represented inthe floor plan that may indicate room contours.

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may include atopological analysis. A topological analysis may include but is notlimited to an analysis of the connectivity of spaces within a floor planthat can reveal information regarding the properties of these spaces. Atopological analysis may define relationships between rooms and theirposition in the floor plan hierarchy using the doors that connectbetween them to create spatial maps. A spatial map may be described asweighted graphs and graph properties such as connectivity and shortestpaths derived. In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may include atopological analysis of a floor plan or one or more spaces of a floorplan. For example, a topological analysis of the floor plan may beconducted to identify rooms within the floor plan. As another example, atopological analysis of a space within a floor plan may be conducted toidentify features of spaces, such as, for example, number and type ofadjacent and connected spaces to a given space, that may be used toidentify a semantic designation to associate with the space.

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may include an imageanalysis. An image analysis may include but is not limited to ananalysis of a pixel-based image such as a jpg or bmp which uses pixelcolor and/or location within the image to gather information regardingthe geometry it represents. In this context, an image analysis may beused for analyzing a floor plan if no vector information exists, such aswith hand drawn or scanned plans and/or for semantic enrichment. Forexample, image analysis may be used to demarcate contours of spaces,differentiate between spaces, or identify other features of spaces in afloor plan. In some embodiments, algorithms from the world of computervision can used to reconstruct geometric features from pixel-basedimages. Other examples of imaging processing may include a Houghtransform algorithm, Canny edge detection, and other suitable imageprocessing techniques as described herein.

As discussed above, semantic enrichment may include employing acomputational or classification algorithm along with an analysis methodto generate semantic designations for a floor plan. For example, ananalysis method may be performed to identify various spaces within afloor plan and certain features or characteristics of those spaces. Theanalysis method may produce output data of several types indicating thespaces within the floor plan and information about the spaces includinggeometric data (including the shapes, relative sizes, relativelocations, and other information related to floor plan or spacegeometry), textual data (including any existing semantic designations,labels, or other text on a floor plan related to spaces of the floorplan), and image data (including an image of the floor plan, one or moreimages of portions of the floor plan, symbols of the floor plan, andother data related to visual presentation of the floor plan). Each thesetypes of data may serve as input to one or more algorithms or models toperform semantic enrichment. In some embodiments, multiple algorithms ormodels may be used in the semantic enrichment process to arrive at afinal semantic designation for a space.

In some embodiments, image and text data may be used to classifyelements of spaces within the floor plan, such as architecturalfeatures, furniture, and equipment. Image data may be input into analgorithm configured to classify elements of the images. In someembodiments, the algorithm may be an artificial neural network, such asa residual neural network (ResNet). A ResNet, for example, may betrained to classify furniture, equipment and/or other elements of aspace based on images and symbols (e.g. CAD symbols and blocks, PDFsymbols or BIM objects) within an image of a floor plan or from imagesassociated with a BIM object's metadata. As an example, a ResNet may betrained to recognize that a circle placed within a rectangle should beclassified as a “sink” or that a series of six or more identicalrectangles placed with their long edges touching should be classified as“stairs.” As another example, a ResNet may be trained to recognize tothat a circle with a line attached to it should be classified as a“light switch.” As another example, a ResNet may be trained to recognizea 2D or 3D image of a chair associated with a BIM object and classifythe image as a “chair.” By way of other non-limiting examples, a ResNetmight classify an arrangement of sets of transversely intersecting linesas corners of a room, thereby recognizing the room; recognize a break ina room interior wall of a threshold size as an egress; or recognize inan exterior wall a non-uniformity of a threshold size as a window.During model training, such as a ResNet model for example, a pluralityof floor plans may be annotated in different ways to allow multi-typedeep learning training and other possible artificial intelligencetraining techniques. Such annotations may be stored as CSV, JSON, orother file types. As illustrative examples, annotations may includemasks or data denoting geometric objects such as boxes, oriented boxes,or polygons that identify or demarcate features of interest in aplurality of floor plans. These objects may be generated manually, forexample, by drawing them over the image or automatically usingheuristic, geometric or statistic algorithms, or generated or identifiedusing other suitable techniques. Annotations may be used for training amodel to perform a variety of tasks, including detection, segmentation,or classification tasks. More generally, annotations may assist in thetraining of any machine learning algorithm to perform a computer visiontask or other artificial intelligence tasks. Annotation may also beapplied when using statistical algorithms. In some embodiments, trainingimages may be cleaned by removing text, redundant features, or otherelements. For example, when performing small object detection (e.g.,detection of doors or door sills), a floor plan may be cropped into asize (e.g., 1000×1000 pixels) and afterwards recomposed and used withnon-maximum suppression. Floor plans may be resized (e.g., resized to1024×1024 or 512-512) before inputting to the artificial intelligencemodel for detection of larger objects, such as walls or room.

Annotated floor plans may be divided into training and validation sets.For detecting architectural features in the floor plans and predictingfeatures, various deep learning models may be used including thefollowing non-limiting illustrative examples. RetinaNet may be usedbased on the ResNet classification network. In another example, todetect door sill placement within a door, a classification deep neuralnetwork may be used such as ResNet. For segmentation of walls and rooms,which may be a base of a multi-purpose network, UNET may be employed,which includes encoder-decoder architecture to reconstruct semanticsegmentation on top of the floor plan image.

Disclosed embodiments may include training deep learning networks on aspecialized cloud system with an industrial GPU or with a variety ofother types of machines. As an illustrative example, a trained deeplearning model may be post-processed with computer visions algorithms.Such algorithms may include RANSAC, Hough lines, connected componentsalgorithms, or other models suitable for computer vision.

Similarly, text data related to elements of spaces, such asarchitectural features furniture and equipment, may be input into amachine learning algorithm, such a natural language processing (NLP)algorithm (e.g., word2vec or others). An NLP algorithm may be configuredto classify a room element based on the text associated with it. Forexample, a text data input may include a furniture label of “mattress.”The NLP algorithm may classify this label as a “bed” label because of alearned association between “mattress” and “bed.” As another example,text data input may include a furniture label of “loveseat.” The NLPalgorithm may classify this label as a “sofa” label because of a learnedassociation between “loveseat” and “sofa.” As another example, the NLPalgorithm may classify “LED Spot 20 W Warm White” as “light fixture”because of a learned association between the text string as “lightfixture.” In some embodiments, the NLP algorithm may be configured toclassify incomplete or incorrect text. As an example, the NLP algorithmmay classify a furniture label “mtress” as a “bed.” In some embodiments,the NLP algorithm may be configured to classify text from a plurality oflanguages. In some embodiments, the classification may remain within thesource location of the existing labels.

In some embodiments the semantic enrichment may consider existingsemantic designations. For example, matelas” in French (“mattress”) maybe classified as “lit” (“bed”). In some embodiments, the classificationmay involve translation to another language. As an example, the NLP mayclassify a furniture “chaise longue” in French to “chair” in English.Accordingly, the semantic enrichment is configured to determine semanticdesignations in a plurality of languages.

In some embodiments, the classification language may definable based on,for example, the language of the tags in the floor plan, the geographiclocation of the project which the floor plan represents, the geographiclocation of a user, or a user defined presence. In some embodiments, theclassifications may be made using rules rather than learned association.For example, any string of text including the word “toilet” shall beclassified as a “toilet.”

In some embodiments, both the image and text classification outputs ofspace elements may be provided together as input into a classificationalgorithm to provide a more accurate classification of an element basedon both the image of the element and any associated text. For example,an image classification algorithm may classify an element as a “couch”based on the image or symbol of the element in the floor plan. However,a textual classification algorithm may classify the same element as a“sectional,” based on the text associated with the element. Both ofthese classifications may then be input into a third classifier, whichmay ultimately classify the element as a “sofa,” based on the priorclassifications of “couch” and “sectional.” In some embodiments, aconfidence rating may be associating with a given classification. Thethird classifier, may for example, elect the classification with thehighest confidence rating. It may provide a weighting for a preferencefor an image or text classification. In some embodiments, anotherclassification type such as a geometric analysis of the shape of theelement or user identification of an element may be provided as anadditional input to the to the classification algorithm. Theclassification algorithm may use a majority-rules approach indetermining the classification.

In some embodiments, other text data related to a space as whole, butnot necessarily to a specific element of the space, may be input into amachine learning algorithm, such a natural language processing (NLP)algorithm. For example, a text data input may include a floor plan roomlabel of “Bob's sleeping quarters.” The NLP algorithm may classify thislabel as a “bedroom” label because of a learned association between“sleeping quarters” and “bedroom.” As another example, a text data inputmay include a floor plan room label of “clothing storage.” The NLPalgorithm may classify this label as a “closet” because of a learnedassociation between “clothing storage” and “closet.” As another example,a text data input of 13-31 15 11 may be classified as an “Open ClassLaboratory” because of learned association between this Omniclass codeand “Open Class Laboratory.” In some embodiments, such associationsbetween classification standards such as Omniclass may be written asrules rather than a learned association (e.g. 13-31 15 11=Open ClassLaboratory).”

Resulting element classifications and space classifications based ontext, as well as geometric data or other data associated with a space ofa floor plan, may be input into yet another classification algorithm,referred to as a semantic enrichment model, to produce an ultimateclassification for the room and a corresponding semantic designation. Asdescribed herein, a semantic enrichment model may be a computationalmodel, artificial intelligence model, or other model configured toreceive floor plan data as input and output semantic designations forspaces within the floor plan. In some embodiments, the semanticenrichment model may also output a confidence rating, as describedherein.

The computational algorithm may then be employed to generate a semanticdesignation for the identified spaces. As an example, an analysismethod, such as a semantic analysis, geometric analysis or machinelearning methods, may be employed to identify spaces within a floorplan. The analysis method may identify, for example, three spaces withina floor plan and other details about the spaces. The first space may bea room with an area 30 square feet, with two windows, one door, and adesk. The second space may be a long narrow passageway with no windowsor furniture. The third space may be a large room of 150 square feetwith a window and a bed. This output data from the analysis methods maythen be input into a computational algorithm trained to output asemantic designation for each space based on the identifiedcharacteristics such as size, architectural features, furniture, orother distinguishing features. For example, the first space above may begiven the semantic designation of “office” because it has a desk, alongwith a single door and two windows. The second may be given the semanticdesignation of “corridor” because it is a long and narrow shape with nowindows. The space may be given the semantic designation of “bedroom”because it includes a bed. This type of automation of determination ofsemantic designations may save considerable effort and coordination forlarge scale planning projects. For example, disclosed embodiments mayenable a large number of floor plans to be quickly, accurately, andconsistently provided with semantic designations. Such a task donemanually would be daunting and prone to errors or inconsistencies, aswell as time and labor intensive.

Semantic enrichment may also involve an artificial intelligence methodto add information to a floor plan. Artificial intelligence methods mayinclude, for example, neural network models, natural language processingtechniques, classification models, random forests, deep learning models,support vector machine models and other machine learning or otherartificial intelligence techniques as disclosed herein. For example, analgorithm may be trained to analyze a floor plan and determine one ormore semantic designations for spaces within the floor plan based on theanalysis. For example, a deep learning network may be used to identifywalls, extract room boundaries or locate architectural features such asdoors, windows or furniture and to predict the room's function based onthe identified features and elements. Artificial intelligence models mayalso be configured to receive input data including variouscharacteristics of a floor plan or spaces within the floor plan (such asgeometric data, architectural features, furniture, text, and othersuitable identified characteristics of a floor plan) and predictsemantic designations for spaces within the floor plan. For example, aneural network model or a random forest model may be configured toreceive input data about a space and trained to output a semanticdesignation for the space based on the data. The input data may indicatefor example that the space has four walls, two windows, a desk, twochairs, one door, and a bookcase, as well as text on the floor planindicating “secretary's office.” Thus, the neural network may determinethe semantic designation of “office” for the space based on the inputdata.

In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may include consideration ofarchitectural features of a floor plan. For example, a space of a floorplan may include one or more architectural features that may indicate orsuggest that the space is of a certain type. A space may be bounded ontwo sides by walls, each of which contain a window. On the other twosides, the space may be bounded by a railing. Based on thesearchitectural features, the space may be given the semantic designationof “balcony.” As another example, space may be given the semanticdesignation of “staircase” because it is interior to a building, boundby walls, includes stairs, and includes a railing. An algorithm maydistinguish the “staircase” from a “fire escape” during the semanticenrichment process by certain architectural features. While both mayinclude stairs and a railing, the fire escape may be external to thebuilding and not bound by four walls. In some embodiments, the absenceof architectural features may also be considered in the semanticenrichment process. For example, a “closet” may be identified as a smallspace with one door having no windows or furniture within.

In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may include consideration offurniture and equipment within spaces of a floor plan. For example, aspace of a floor plan may include one or more pieces of furniture. Thetypes, size, quantity, arrangement that may indicate or suggest that thespace is of a certain type. In some embodiments, other equipment withina space may also be considered, such as lighting fixtures, appliances,plumbing fixtures, and other fixtures as disclosed herein. For example,the presence of one or more electrical panels in a small space with nowindows and adjacent to a wiring shaft may suggest that a space is anelectrical room.

In some embodiments, the arrangement of the furniture within the roommay be considered. For example, two spaces may both contain a table andfour chairs, but be given different semantic designations. The furnitureof the first space may be arranged such that the table is located nearthe center of a room, with the four chairs placed close to the table andevenly spaced around the table. The furniture of the second space may bearranged such that the chairs are located in separate corners of theroom, with the table being small and located adjacent to one of thechairs. In this example, the first space be given the designation of“dining room” while the second space may be given the designation of“library.” As another example, a table with 1 chair on one side and 2chairs on the other side may suggest that it is desk. The same table,for example, with 2 chairs on both sides may suggest that it is a smalleating table or a meeting table. Relationships between rooms might alsobe considered. In the first example above, the dining room designationmight be assigned in part based on the location of the room in proximityto a kitchen. However, in a situation where a kitchen is not within athreshold distance, the room might be designated as a “conference room.”In some embodiments, the combination of furniture in the room may alsobe considered. In the previous example, the second space may alsoinclude one or more bookcases, the presence of which may also beconsidered to identify the semantic designation of “library” rather than“dining room.”

In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may include adding semanticdesignations to furniture within a space of a floor plan. The techniquesof semantic enrichment described herein may be used to add semanticdesignations not only to a space itself, but also to furniture andequipment within the space. For example, a large rectangular object withtwo smaller rectangular objects positioned on one end of it may be giventhe semantic designation of bed. In some embodiments, semanticenrichment of furniture may be based on a semantic designation of thespace the furniture or equipment is within or semantic designations ofother furniture or equipment within the space. For example, arectangular object near another piece of furniture designated as a“chair” in a space designated as an “office” may be given the semanticdesignation of “desk.” As another example, a rectangular objectconnecting to a fan-coil unit may be given the semantic designation ofan “HVAC duct.” As another example, a series of lines connecting tolighting fixtures may be given the semantic designation of “electricalcable.” Further examples of semantic enrichment of furniture aredescribed with respect to FIG. 10B.

In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may include consideration ofexisting semantic designations. Existing semantic designations may besemantic designations that already exist within a floor plan beforesemantic enrichment is performed. For example, a draft may label roomswithin a floor plan as “bedroom,” “manager's office,” or “washroom.” Asanother example, equipment such as “camera” may be labeled as “CAM” anda sensor as “SENS.” Existing semantic designations may be identifiedusing a natural language processing or other suitable text-based orlanguage-based algorithm. For example, a semantic analysis may beperformed on the floor plan, and existing semantic designations withinthe floor plan may be identified. In some embodiments, classificationrules may be used rather than learned associations. For example, anystring of text with the word “CAM” shall be classified as a “camera.”These existing semantic designations may then be used as input into thecomputational algorithm, which may use the existing semanticdesignations as a factor in its determination of new semanticdesignations. For example, spaces having the existing semanticdesignation of “secretary's office” or “computer workroom” may be giventhe new semantic designation of “office.” The new semantic designationmay be determined at least in part by the similarity of the existingsemantic designations to the new semantic designation “office.” Asanother example, a small room with a toilet, a shower, and an existingsemantic designation of “washroom” may be given a new semanticdesignation of “bathroom.”

In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may include updating oraugmenting a prior semantic designation. As described above, a floorplan may include one or more existing designations. When semanticenrichment is performed on the floor plan, one or more of these priorexisting semantic designations may be updated by replacement with a newdesignation. Continuing the previous example, the prior designation of“washroom” may be updated to the new semantic designation of “bathroom.”In some embodiments, a semantic designation may ebe added to augment anexisting semantic designation. For example, an existing designation ofClassroom may be augmented with an Omniclass classification such as“13-31 13 13 Classrooms (Age 9 Plus).” In some embodiments, existingsemantic designations may be updated to ensure that the semanticdesignations of the floor plan comply with a certain standard. Furtherexamples of updating semantic designations are described with respect toFIG. 10A.

In some embodiments, semantic enrichment may include adding a semanticdesignation where one was absent in the floor plan. For example, one ormore spaces within a floor plan may not include prior existing semanticdesignations. Accordingly, semantic enrichment may be performed todetermine semantic designations for those spaces lacking one. Adding asemantic designation to a floor plan may include placing the semanticdesignation on the floor plan within or near the associated space,placing it on a floor plan with a line to the associated space,associating the space with the semantic designation in an index or dataentry of floor plan. The designation may be added as an overlay on thefloor plan, and/or it may be added as metadata associated with the floorplan. Further examples of updating and adding designations are describedwith respect to FIG. 10C.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, a semantic designation may beapplied in common to a plurality of spaces. In some embodiments, asemantic designation may be applied in common to plurality of spacesthat each lacked a semantic designation. For example, a floor plan mayinclude three spaces that each include a sink, a toilet, and a shower.Each of these spaces may be assigned the common semantic designation of“bathroom.”

In some embodiments, a user may be enabled to override a semanticdesignation. Overriding a semantic designation may allow a semanticdesignation determined by the semantic enrichment algorithm to bechanged by the user. In some embodiments, overrides may be manual by theuser or automatic. For example, overrides may be performed using a rule(e.g., change all rooms with semantic designation of “x” to “y”), agraphical interface (e.g., a drop down menu, drag and drop of semanticdesignation), via an index (e.g., an index displaying all space semanticdesignations which can be edited individually or in bulk). According todisclosed embodiment, an automatic override may occur according to aconfidence rating threshold, as described herein.

In some embodiments, a semantic enrichment may include indicating aconfidence rating for a semantic designation. A confidence rating forsemantic designations may relates to the degree of the match identifiedbetween a space and a determined semantic designation. In some cases,characteristics of spaces may not be identified with a 100% certainty inthe semantic enrichment process. The reasons for this may be anambiguous or meaningless room tag (“IR 300”) or a geometry that lacksany clearly identifying features. To account for this, the semanticenrichment algorithm may be configured to provide a confidence rating.For example, a room already tagged as “office” may be assigned thesemantic designator “office” with a 100% confidence, while a room taggedas “Guy's room” may be also designated as an office, but with acomparatively low (e.g., 30%) confidence rating. A confidence rating maybe numeric (e.g., a number scale or percentage), textual (e.g. high,medium, low, etc.), symbolic (e.g., a checkmark for high confidence anda question mark for lower confidence), graphical (e.g., color basedlegend), or other suitable form of presentation. A confidence rating maybe indicated in a variety of ways, including, by placing the confidencerating on the floor plan near the semantic designation, updating a tablewith entries associating spaces, semantic designations, and confidencesratings, saving confidence ratings to a data structure, including theconfidence rating within metadata, or others. In some embodiments, aconfidence rating below a certain threshold may prompt the user andrequest, for example, the user's intervention.

In some embodiments, a semantic designation may be added or changedaccording to a threshold confidence rating. For example, an existingsemantic designation may be overridden or replaced if a definedconfidence rating threshold is met. If such an example, an existingsemantic designation may remain in place if the threshold confidencerating is not met.

In some embodiments, semantic designations may be determined based on astandard. For example, a standard may be identified that includes alimited universe of possibilities for semantic designations for spaces.Basing the determination of semantic designations on a limited universeof possibilities may be helpful to assign consistent designations.Consistent designations may then facilitate easier identification of andcontrol over multiple spaces, as a well as permitting easier and moreconsistent application of rules to multiple spaces. For example, ratherthan have three spaces with semantic designations of “secretary'soffice,” “manager's office,” and “Luke's Cubicle,” all three spaces maybe given the semantic designation of “office.” In some embodiments, thestandard may be an international standard, such as Uniclass, Omniclass,MasterFormat or other suitable architectural or file standard. In otherembodiments, the standard may be a unique standard of an individualarchitect, planner and/or designer.

Disclosed embodiments may also involve enriching the floor plan byassociating on the floor plan a semantic designation with a space of thefloor plan. Such embodiments may involve associative or associatingprinciples. As used herein, associating may include creating a logicalpair from two entities of different types, such as a physical item and afunctional requirement. In some embodiments, the pairing might take theform of an on-screen representation or a logical pairing within aninternal database or code. For example, a stored table may contain alist of associated entities. Stored associated pairs may also be passedtogether as an argument to a function. In some cases, one member of thepair may appear as a property in the other member's data. Associateditems may be one from each of these lists: rooms, architecturalfeatures, equipment, functional requirements, rules, technicalspecifications, technical characteristics, or others.

In some embodiments, associating on the floor plan a semanticdesignation with a space may include overlaying the semantic designationon the floor plan within the boundaries of the corresponding demarcatedspace. For example, a floor plan may include a room bounded by fourwalls. Accordingly, a semantic designation, e.g., “office”, may beplaced over the floor plan within the boundaries of the four walls ofthe room. Examples of such semantic designation placement areillustrated in FIGS. 10A-10C. In some embodiments, a semanticdesignation may not necessarily be placed on a floor plan within theboundary of a space, but may be linked to a space in other manners suchas using lines, colors, shapes, or other suitable indicators. In somecases, a floor plan may include key illustrating links between semanticdesignations with a specific indicator. For example, a room may beassociated with the semantic designation of “office” by being coloredpurple on a floor plan. A key on the floor plan may indicate that spacescolored purple are associated with the “office” designation.

In some embodiments, a floor plan may be enriched by associating asemantic designation with an architectural feature and/or equipment. Forexample, a semantic designation may be associated with a wall, window,door, railing, or other architectural feature as described herein. Insome embodiments, the associated architectural feature may be a piece offurniture, such as a bed, desk, table, chair, or other piece offurniture, or a piece of equipment such as an access control device,sensor, camera, controller, power outlet, cable tray, conduit,electrical panel, duct, HVAC unit, wiring or other piece of equipment.

In some embodiments, a semantic designation may be added to a zoneassociated with a space. A zone may be the aggregation of a plurality ofarchitectural features, rooms and/or spaces sharing a commoncharacteristic or point of interest for analysis, control, monitoring,or supply. A zone may be a physical zone, for example, a plurality ofrooms between structural columns, an area beneath ground floor level, awing of a building, all areas adjacent to windows, or other definedareas internal or external of a building or structure. In someembodiments, a zone may relate to room functions, for example a zone mayinclude all retail spaces or all storage space within a building. Insome embodiments, a zone may relate to safety. For example, a zone maybe a plurality of rooms to which access is restricted by access controlreaders. In some embodiments, a zone may relate to rooms serviced by acommon piece equipment, group of equipment, or a certain system. Forexample, a zone may include a plurality of rooms covered by a certainwifi access point. Zones may also relate to other properties such asthermal properties or solar gain (e.g., a thermal zone).

In some embodiments, a zone may be an HVAC zone, a fire zone, or anoccupancy zone. An HVAC zone may be the aggregation of a plurality ofrooms and/or spaces for which heating, cooling and ventilation functionsmay be collectively regulated and controlled. An HVAC zone may beserviced by a common set of HVAC equipment (e.g. air handling units,FCU's, or other appliance used for HVAC functions). In some embodiments,a building may have one or several HVAC zones. A plurality of spaces mayreceive the semantic designation of an HVAC zone based on a semanticenrichment process which may have identified a plurality of spacessharing a common room function or common architectural feature. Forexample, several bedrooms may be identified as an HVAC zone given theircommon room function and a series of private offices may be identifiedas another HVAC zone given a shared set of architectural features suchas a common façade and common solar radiation. In some embodiments, theshared architectural may have been identified and/or classified by meansof semantic enrichment process.

A fire zone may be the aggregation of a plurality of rooms and spacesdefined by a building's physical fire controls, fire separatingmaterials, or the building's fire life safety systems. A fire zone maybe constituted by all the areas and/or rooms within a set of fire walls,fire doors, or other separating materials. As an example, a semanticdesignation of a fire zone may be added to a plurality of spacescontained within an identified set of fire walls and fire doors. As anexample, the identified fire walls and fire doors may have receivedthese semantic designations from a semantic enrichment process. A firezone may also be defined by proximity to fire safety equipment, such asfire control equipment (e.g., fire extinguishers, hoses, sprinklers, andother devices used for controlling, fighting, or extinguishing a fire)or fire indicating equipment (e.g., fire alarms, smoke detectors,monitors, and other equipment suitable for detecting a fire). In someembodiments, a fire zone may be defined by limitations of fire safetyequipment (e.g., a number of smoke detectors or other equipment that canbe grouped together on a single logical unit.) In some embodiments, afire zone may be defined by specific risks for fire (e.g. a hazardousarea may be separated into a zone) or by occupancy (e.g., a mercantileor living area may be a separate zone).

An occupancy zone may be a plurality of rooms or spaces within abuilding grouped according to their function. Some examples of occupancyzones may include: residential, mercantile, high-hazard, assembly, orothers. Occupancy zones may be used for building and fire codeenforcement. In some embodiments, occupancy zones may be defined bycodes (municipal, state, national, international) or other standards. Insome embodiments, an occupancy zone may be further divided intosub-zones. For example, an assembly zone may be divided in a performingarts sub-zone, a food and drink sub-zone, a ticketing sub-zone, andother sub-zones.

Disclosed embodiments may further involve identifying, in a datastructure, a rule that includes a functional requirement based on thesemantic designation. A data structure may refer to any type of datastored in an organized, searchable manner. A data structure may includedifferent categories of information in predetermined locations. The datamay contain textual, tabular, numeric or image information identifiesrules. The rules may be stored in the data structure such that they areassociated with semantic designations. The data of a data structure maybe stored in SQL, MongoDB, AWS S3, CSV, XLS, JSON or any other datastorage format. The data may be stored locally, in a network storagedevice, connected database, a cloud-based server or storage service, orother suitable method of data storage. A rule may be identified in adata structure by querying the data structure. For example, a datastructure may be configured to return all stored rules associated with acertain semantic designation when the semantic designation is entered asa query to the structure. The foregoing data structure description isexemplary, and other data structures, as described herein, may beemployed.

In the context of semantic enrichment processes, rules may include butare not limited to one or more of the following, taken alone or incombination: logical criteria (is, is not, and, or, etc.), geometriccriteria (above, below, bigger, contained, orthogonal, etc.), semanticcriteria (field X=first floor, field Y=stairway, etc). In someembodiments a rule might be used to apply functional requirements, applytechnical specifications, identify a space or place equipment. A rule,in this context, may be a logical construct of the type “if A then B”used to create a cause and effect relationship in the computationaldesign process. Exemplary rules may include: “place a light switch nextto every door,” “apply a certain functional requirement to all theoffices,” “if a room has a urinal, it is a washroom” and many otherexamples. In some embodiments, a rule may be a negative rule, forexample, “do not place a camera with a view of a toilet stall.” In someembodiments, a rule may be a composite rule containing multiple causes,effects, limitations, or prerequisites, for example, “place a sensor onevery door that leads to a stairway and is numbered 3.”

Rules may include one or more functional requirements. A functionalrequirement may include but is not limited to a description ofperformance parameters expected from a system. A functional requirementmay be defined for the entire system, for a project, a floor plan, azone, a room, an area or an architectural feature. A functionalrequirement may describe, for example, a minimal or maximal performanceof the system in a task. The type of a functional requirement may bederived from the system it is applied to (e.g., an HVAC functionalrequirement may describe the performance of an HVAC system). Consistentwith disclosed embodiments, a functional requirement may be used as atarget for a generative analysis. For example, a functional requirementfrom a lighting system may be to provide at least 500 lux to a room. Afunctional requirement from a CCTV system may be to provide enough pixeldensity and/or resolution to identify the face of a person. A functionalrequirement from an HVAC system may be to provide air flow andventilation suitable according to applicable national, state ormunicipal codes for a specific room occupancy. A functional requirementfor a voice evacuation system may be a level for Speech Intelligibility(STI) and sound pressure in DB (SPL) in an area. A functionalrequirement from an access control system may be to fit all exit doorswith keypads. A functional requirement from a fire safety system may beto protect all doors leading to escape corridors with smoke detectors.In some embodiments, different types of functional requirements (forexample noise level and camera coverage) may be applied to the samearea. Functional requirements may be associated with spaces within afloor plan. For example, a rooms within a floor plan may be associatedwith a functional requirement of a fire safety system to have a certaindensity of smoke detectors. In some embodiments, a plurality ofdifferent functional requirements may be associated with a space. Insome embodiments, technical specifications may be associated withfunctional requirements. For example, a certain brand, series or modelmay be associated with a functional requirement.

In some embodiments, a rule may be an energy consumption rule, anoccupancy rule, or an equipment placement rule. An energy consumptionrule may involve the energy consumed by a space. As a non-limitingexample, an energy consumption rule may include the power consumptionper square meter or other unit of measurement for a space or room with acertain function and/or use in a building. For example, the energy useof an office can be estimated at X kilowatts per square meter per hour,while the energy use of a dining area can be estimated at Y kilowattsper square meter per hour. An energy consumption rule may be defined,for example, by a user, a code, building standard, pre-loaded template,an artificial intelligence method trained to predict energy consumptionbase on energy consumption or occupancy patterns, or building profile,as well as many other dataset types. Additional details regardingexample artificial intelligence methods are described throughout thepresent disclosure.

An occupancy rule may be a set of instructions related to a buildingsystem that effects the way the system behaves given different occupancyconditions. For example, a lighting system may have an occupancy rulewhere if there is no one in the room, all lights are turned off. Inanother example, an HVAC system may be programmed to be one setting ifthere is no one in the room, in another setting if there are 1-10 peoplein the room, and in a third different setting if there are over 10people in the room.

An equipment placement rule may be a rule which associates equipmentdescriptions, architectural features or semantic properties and ageometric relation. For example: “place a lamp above every work station”or “locate a switch next to every door” or “place occupancy sensors inall rooms larger than 10 sqm.”

In some embodiments, a rule may be prestored in a database or other datastorage. For example, a rule may be preidentified and stored in adatabase. Such a prestored rule may not be entered by a user during theoperation, but stored before the fact such that the processor may accessit later. The data may be stored in SQL, MongoDB, CSV, XLS, JSON or anyother data storage format. The rule data may be uploaded by a userbefore in a previous session, stored by the software designer, uploadedfrom a different data structure, or automatically derived via analgorithm.

In some embodiments, a rule may defined by a user. For example, a usermay be presented with an interface associated with the semanticenrichment process. The user may be able to use the interface to definerules and associate the rules with semantic designations, spaces, orfunctional requirements. Such capabilities may permit a user todynamically define rules throughout the semantic enrichment process andpermit the user to see corresponding changes to floor plan whendifferent rules are implemented.

Disclosed embodiments may further include associating the identifiedrule with a space. Associating may include any form or linking,correlating or relating a rule with a space. For example, as describedherein, associating may include creating a logical pair between a ruleand a space. In some embodiments, the pairing might take the form of anon-screen representation or a logical pairing within an internaldatabase or code. For example, a stored table may contain a list ofidentified rules and associated spaces. Stored associated pairs may alsobe passed together as an argument to a function. In some cases, onemember of the pair may appear as a property in the other member's data.For example, rules associated with spaces may be stored as properties ofthe data related to a space. In some embodiments, an index of the spaceswithin the floor plan may be updated by associating a space with afunctional requirement and a semantic designation. An index may be alist of data. An index may be saved in plain text format and optimizedto improve efficiency and/or speed of searching and sorting operationson data referenced by the index. Indexes may include metadata orkeywords and may allow the data to be searched via the index instead ofreading through each file individually. With reference to a building, anindex may include a list of all room names, their semantic designation,data regarding their geometric features and architectural features, dataregarding functional requirements associated with rooms, and equipmentassociated with rooms, or any combination thereof and of additionalpossible information.

In some embodiments, the rule may be applied in a manner that associatesa functional requirement of the rule with a space in a graphicalrepresentation of the floor plan. For example, associating a rule with aspace in a graphical representation may include overlaying a symbol orother visual indicator corresponding to the rule over the floor planwithin the boundaries of the corresponding demarcated space. Or, forexample, hatching, color-coding, or other graphical indicators may beoverlaid on spaces within a floor plan, and a graphical key may bepresented to the viewer. In some embodiments, a rule or functionalrequirement may be associated with a group of spaces. In someembodiments, the group of spaces may be associated with the semanticdesignation. For example, a rule may be associated with a group of fourstaircases within a floor plan, based on the semantic designation of“staircase.”

In some embodiments, associating a rule with a space may includeapplying the rule to space. For example, a rule may be identified to “ifa space is a bedroom, then place at least one window in the space.”Accordingly, when the rule is associated with a space with the semanticdesignation bedroom and the space does not include a window, a windowmay be automatically placed in the space.

In some embodiments, the method may include providing a prompt queryingacceptance or denial of an application of the function requirement toindividual spaces of the plurality of spaces by a user. For example, afunctional requirement (Function “X”) may be a applied to set of roomswith a certain function. But a room within the set may have originallyhad a designation of Function “Y” before the semantic enrichmentprocess. A prompt can alert the user to accept this change or overridethe change. The prompt can be in the form of a pop-up, a modal, or thesuitable interface item, and may be textual. For example, a prompt mayask: “Room A originally had Function Y, are you sure you want to applythe functional requirement associated with Function X?” A prompt mayalso be graphical, for example a space may be shown as a certain color,the color indicating acceptance is required. Other types of graphicalprompts are also possible.

Disclosed embodiments may also include generatively analyzing theplurality of spaces to determine an equipment placement location forindividual spaces of the plurality of spaces that at least partiallyconform to the functional requirement. In some embodiments generativelyanalyzing the room may include generating a series of simulations. Forexample, generatively analyzing technical specifications may includerunning some combination of a weighted cost function, image analysis,geometric analysis, semantic analysis, floor plan analysis, topologyanalysis, BIM analysis, rule based design, statistical analysis,optimization, or any other data analysis as disclosed herein. The seriesof simulations may be run iteratively until a solution conforms to oneor more functional requirements, for example. Simulations may beassociated with scores reflecting a degree of conformance to functionalrequirements, and generative analysis may be performed until asimulation score reaches a predetermined threshold. The series ofsimulations may be generated based on user input indicating a number ofsimulations, a desired simulation performance score, or other parameterof the simulations. In some embodiments, user input may terminate anongoing series of simulations.

A generative analysis may not always include an optimization and mayinclude a calculation or more concrete analysis. In some embodiments thegenerative analysis may apply a rule-based functional requirement forselecting and placing equipment. In this context, a rule may include anylogical relationship defining a functional requirement or how afunctional requirement should be applied. For example, the generativeanalysis may include placing a chair next to all desks or workstationscorridor, inserting a door in all openings of a certain size, placing apiece of equipment where there is at least a certain tolerance of space(e.g. 10 cm on either of the equipment), placing a valve adjacent to allfan-coil units, spacing equipment at specified distances with aspecified overlap, or various other forms of analysis that may bedefined by a functional requirement. In some embodiments, the rule maybe a logical construct of the type “if A then B” used to create a causeand effect relationship in the computational design process just likeplain human language would. For example, the rule may state “if a roomhas a urinal it is a toilet,” or any other logical relationship. Forexample, a rule may be identified that requires each “office” within afloor plan to include at least one air vent at least three feet from adoor or window. When such a rule is applied to one office within thefloor plan, the remainder of the spaces within the floor plan maygeneratively analyzed to determine a placement for air vents within theother “offices” of the floor plan that complies with the rule. In someembodiments, the rule may include including negative limitations, suchas “don't place a camera with a field of view encompassing a toiletstall” or composite limitations, such as “place a camera on every doorthat leads to a stairway and is numbered 3.” In some embodiments, theconstruct of the rule may reference or use architectural features,technical specifications, equipment as inputs such as, for example, “inroom areas greater than 100 square feet, provide sounders with a minimumdecibel rating of 88 DB” “if rooms has a functional requirement foraccess control devices and if the room has a plurality of doors, coverthe door leading to a corridor with a sensor,” “if a room has fan-coilunit, then place a thermostat with a preference for a placement locationadjacent to other controllers. “if a room has an occupancy greater than10 people, then cover work stations with occupancy sensors,” and “if aroom has a lux level above 400, then connect its lighting fixtures to adimming system.” In some embodiments, generatively analyzing may includemachine learning models trained to predict device selection andplacement based on inputs such as functional requirements and roomarchitectural feature. For example, an equipment location can bepredicted using a trained machine learning model such as a ConvolutionalNeural Network. The model may be trained on a data set containingembedded vectors which represents simulation requirements and room'sgeometry, and their related device locations. Following the prediction,a simulation may be conducted to determine a more precise technicalspecification or model identifier. On every new simulation result or atset thresholds of new inputs the model, which may be stored in thecloud, may be retrained to improve accuracy. Selection of technicalspecifications such as model identifiers may also be made via a trainedmachine learning model such as a Convolutional Neural Network. The modelmay be trained on a data set containing embedded vectors representingroom's geometry and equipment positions, with their embedded equipmenttechnical characteristic data, and predict a new vector of equipmenttechnical characteristic. In such a case, the predicted device may begeneric type with technical characteristics and without a modelidentifier. Another algorithm may then be responsible to select theclosest model in the catalog. On every new simulation result the modelmay be retrained to improve its accuracy.

In some embodiments, the semantic enrichment process and/or thegenerative analyzing process may be computed on a cloud-based servers,cloud-based system or interface or retrieved from a cloud-basedinterface. A cloud-based interface may be any user interface allowing auser to download, upload, or otherwise interact with data stored inremote servers. In some embodiments, the remote servers may be managedby a hosting company, such as IBM® Cloud, Amazon® Web Services, orsimilar online storage platforms. More generally, cloud-based may referto applications, services, or resources made available to users ondemand via the internet from a cloud computing provider's servers.Cloud-based computing can increase capacity, enhance functionality, oradd additional services on demand at reduced infrastructure and laborcosts. Cloud based services may be used to allow complex,computationally expensive algorithms to be accessed by users directlythrough their browsers without the need to download software to theirpersonal computers. In some embodiments, machine learning models such asone or more ResNet models trained to classify architectural features orclassifications model such as XGBoost trained to predict room functions,may be stored, for example, in cloud based file hosting services (suchas Amazon S3, Azure Blob storage, Google cloud storage, DigitalOceanspaces, etc.). The model, for example, may be fetched and loaded intomemory (RAM) by microservices during their initialization. Once loadedinto RAM, the microservices may able to receive requests in the form ofmessages (such as synchronous HTTP messages; asynchronous messages viamessage broking software/services such as Amazon SQS, RabbitMQ, KafkaMQ,ZeroMQ; persistent connection such as websockets or raw TCP sockets, orraw non-persistent packets via the UDP protocol, etc.). Once a requestis received, the service may, for example, invoke the model with thepayload of the message (such as bitmaps, text, or other appropriate datastructures the model was trained with), and receive a result (with adata structure that is based on the type of model) in return. Theservice may then respond, for example, with the generated machinelearning model result.

In some embodiments, a series of simulations or an optimization processmay be run on the cloud. A cloud based optimization may be, for example,based on orchestration of one or many microservices that execute analgorithm. For example, an orchestrating service may receive thelocations of resources, or the actual resources in either raw binary orhuman-readable data structure, as well as any other parameters andmetadata that may be required for the book keeping (e.g. in a database,in-memory cache service, or file storage services). The orchestratingservice then may, for example, preprocess the resources and parameters,and generate permutations that may be dispatched (by either synchronousor asynchornous messaging schemes, often depending on the expectedruntime duration of the algorithm) to worker microservices that may beresponsible for the actual execution of the optimization algorithm.There may also be additional intermediate steps, for example, betweenthe main algorithm orchestrator and the worker microservices. Uponcompletion of the optimization algorithm, the microservices maydispatch, for example, a mirroring message that signifies the completionof the algorithm. Artifacts and intermediate results may be kept inin-memory caching services (such as Redis) or in file storage services(such as Amazon S3) for example. The orchestrator or the intermediateorchestrating services may then, for example, postprocess the results(and any of the aforementioned intermediate artifacts and results of theprocess) of the optimization algorithm, and may choose, for example, todispatch additional requests based on the nature and performance of theresults. After all expected results are received in the algorithmorchestrator, a message may dispatched back, for example, notifying theoptimization process is complete, accompanied by either the results (orthe locations of the results in file storage services/databases), aswell as any other relevant artifacts and intermediate results generatedin the process.

FIG. 10A is a depiction of exemplary floor plans showing changing ofsemantic designations, consistent with disclosed embodiments. Asdescribed herein, semantic enrichment may be used to change existingsemantic designations of a floor plan. The disclosed system may access afloor plan 1000. The floor plan may include a plurality of demarcatedspaces 1003-1013. One or more of the spaces may include an existingdesignation. For example, space 1003 includes the existing designationof “secretary's office.” Similarly, space 1009 includes the existingdesignation of “chairman's office.” As described herein, semanticenrichment may be performed on these spaces to determine new semanticdesignations for the spaces. Once the new semantic designations aredetermined, floor plan 1000 may be enriched to by associating spaces offloor plan 1000 with the new semantic designations. In enriched floorplan 1001, the new semantic designations 1017-1029, are shown asoverlaid on the floor plan. Spaces 1003 and 1009 of original floor plan1000 may both have the new semantic designation of “office” in enrichedfloor plan 1001. The new semantic designations 1017 and 1023 of “office”may have been determined at least in part by the previous designation of“secretary's office” and” chairman's office.”

Similarly, spaces 1010 and 1013 of original floor plan 1000 includeprior existing semantic designations of “sit out” and “resting room.”Space 1010 may be assigned the new designation of “balcony” 1025, atleast in part because of the previous designation of “sit out” and thefact that the space is at least partially exposed to the outsideexterior of the building represented by the floor plan. This exposure tothe exterior may be indicated by the difference in the depiction of theboundaries within the floor plan. Space 1013 may be assigned the newdesignation of “bedroom” 1027, at least in part because of the previousdesignation of “resting room.” Space 1013 may also be identified as“bedroom” because the space includes a piece of furniture that may beidentified as a bed.

In original floor plan 1000, spaces 1005 and 1006 include an overlappingexisting designation of “toilet.” Semantic enrichment may result in eachof spaces 1005 and 1006 receiving their own distinct semanticdesignation of “toilet” as shown in enriched floor plan 1001 by spaces1019 and 1020.

Space 1015 illustrates an illegible or incoherent semantic designation.Accordingly, semantic enrichment techniques as disclosed herein may beused to identify the space as including stairs and give it the semanticdesignation 1029 of “staircase” in enriched floor plan 1001.

FIG. 10B is a depiction of exemplary floor plans showing semanticenrichment of furniture, consistent with disclosed embodiments. Asdescribed herein, semantic enrichment may be used to add semanticdesignations to furniture within a floor plan. The disclosed system mayaccess a floor plan 1030. The floor plan may include a plurality ofdemarcated spaces. The spaces may include one or pieces of furniture1031-1039. The system may perform semantic enrichment on floor plan 1030to add semantic designations to the furniture within each space.

For example, a thin rectangular boundary 1031 within a wall may beidentified. A semantic enrichment algorithm may determine that theboundary 1031 should be given the semantic designation of “window” 1041,for example, based on its shape and location within the floor plan.Similarly, item 1033 may be given the semantic designation of door 1043,for example, because it is an opening within a wall and includes avisual indicator of a door swing direction.

Piece of furniture 1035 may be given the semantic designation of “chair”1045, for example, because it is in close proximity to other similarpieces of furniture, near another piece of furniture that may bedesignated as a “desk,” or within a room with a designation related to“office.” Piece of furniture 1037 may be given the semantic designationof “stairs” 1047, for example, because of its unique geometry. Piece offurniture 1039 may be given the semantic designation of “bed” 1045, forexample, because it is in close proximity to other similar pieces offurniture, near another piece of furniture that may be designated as a“desk,” or within a room with a designation related to “office.”

As depicted in enriched floor plan 1040, associating a semanticdesignation with a piece of furniture may include placing the text ofthe semantic designation on or near the symbol for the piece offurniture. Associating a semantic designation with a piece of furnituremay also include placing a box around the furniture symbol (or othertype of visual indicator) to help differentiate between pieces offurniture and illustrate which piece of furniture is associated with thesemantic designation.

FIG. 10C is a depiction of exemplary floor plans showing addition ofsemantic designations, consistent with disclosed embodiments. Asdescribed herein, semantic enrichment may be used to add new semanticdesignations to a floor plan, where semantic designations did notpreviously exist. The disclosed system may access a floor plan 1050. Thefloor plan may include a plurality of demarcated spaces 1049-1055 thatdo not have any preexisting semantic designations on the floor plan. Asdescribed herein, semantic enrichment may be performed on these spacesto determine new semantic designations for the spaces. Once the newsemantic designations are determined, floor plan 1050 may be enriched byassociating spaces of floor plan 1050 with the new semantic designationsto generate enriched floor plan 1060. In enriched floor plan 1060, thenew semantic designations 1057-1063, are shown as overlaid on the floorplan. Space 1049 may be given the new semantic designation of “office”in enriched floor plan 1060. The new semantic designation 1057 of“office” may have been determined, for example in part by the shape ofthe room and furniture present within the room. Similarly, space 1051may be given the new semantic designation of “corridor” 1059 because ofit's long narrow shape and because it is bound by a door on each end.The new semantic designation of “corridor” 1059 may also be based inpart on the lack of furniture within the space 1051.

Space 1053 may be given the new semantic designation of “toilet” inenriched floor plan 1060. The new semantic designation 1061 of “toilet”may be determined, for example in part by presence of a toilet and asink within space 1053. Space 1055 may be assigned the new semanticdesignation of “balcony” 1063, for example, because space 1055 is atleast partially exposed to the outside exterior of the buildingrepresented by the floor plan. This exposure to the exterior may beindicated by the difference in the depiction of the boundaries 1065 and1067 within the floor plan. The new semantic designation of “balcony”may also be based on the presence of a combination of furnitureincluding a table, chairs, and an umbrella. The presence of the umbrellalocated above or near a table may further indicate that the space 1055is exterior to the building depicted by the floor plan.

FIG. 10D is a block diagram representing an exemplary semanticenrichment process, consistent with disclosed embodiments. As describedherein semantic enrichment may be conducted on a floor plan 1071.Semantic enrichment may start by implement one or more classification oranalysis algorithms, such as Room Geometry analysis or a semanticanalysis which extracts geometrical data 1073, detection andclassification of architectural features analysis 1075 which may involveone or more machine learning models, geometric analysis or semanticanalysis or any combination thereof, text classification analysis 1077which may consider existing semantic designations such as existingnames, descriptions, classifications, tags and other textual metadataassociated with rooms, architectural features, furniture and equipment.In some embodiments, analysis algorithms may be configured to analyze animage or model of a floor plan. For example, geometric analysis,topological analysis, image analysis, or other types of floor plananalysis as described herein may be performed on the floor plan 1071 togenerate information about room or space geometry 1073. Space geometryinformation may include the shapes, relative sizes, relative locations,and other geometric information as described herein. As another example,geometric analysis, topological analysis, image analysis, machinelearning methods, or other types of floor plan analysis as describedherein may be performed on the floor plan to detect and classifyarchitectural features 1075 of spaces within the floor plan.

In some embodiments, text analysis, for example semantic analysis,natural language processing, or other text-based analyses as describedherein, may be performed on the floor plan. These analyses may be usedto identify existing semantic designations, labels, descriptions, orother text on a floor plan related to spaces of the floor plan.

Once a floor plan has been analyzed, the resulting space data (includingbut not limited to geometric data, architectural feature data, andtextual data) may be input into a semantic enrichment model 1079. Asdescribed herein, a semantic enrichment model may be a computationalmodel, artificial intelligence model, or other model configured toreceive floor plan data as input and output semantic designations forspaces within the floor plan. In some embodiments, the semanticenrichment model 1079 may also output a Room Semantic Designation 1081and perhaps a Confidence Rating, as described herein.

FIG. 10E is a block diagram representing an exemplary semanticenrichment process, consistent with disclosed embodiments. FIG. 10E ispresented by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting ofthe disclosure. For example, although the algorithms depicted in theblock diagram are referred to as “classification algorithms” below, asdisclosed herein, other types of algorithms may be used. As describedherein, the semantic enrichment process may include accessing a floorplan. As illustrated in FIG. 10E, accessing may include a user 1083uploading a floor plan file. This file may be CAD file, PDF file, BIMfile or image file. In some embodiments, the file may be uploaded to acloud-based interface. In other embodiments, it may be opened usingsoftware installed on a local computer or an app on a portable devicesuch as phone or tablet. The floor plan file may be uploaded to, forexample, a computer, server, or cloud computing service to perform thesemantic enrichment process.

Once the file is uploaded, a floor plan analysis 1085 may be initiated.The drawing process may include using geometric analysis, semanticanalysis, image analysis, topological analysis, and/or machine learningmethods. In some embodiments, the processing may be used to identifyroom contours, as described above. In other embodiments, drawing process1085 may extract room geometry such as areas, volumes, room boundingratio (length/width of bounding box), room triangles, standard deviationof Delaunay triangulation, room bounding width, room bounding length, orany other forms of geometries. In other embodiments, the processing maybe to rectify modeling errors in a BIM file such as columns or wallsthat are not bound with a room.

An analysis of the floor plan may be conducted to identify spaces in thefloor plan and elements, geometry, and text associated with the spaces.As described herein, the analysis may be conducted in a variety of waysand may result in variety of types of data, including geometric data(including the shapes, relative sizes, relative locations, and otherinformation related to floor plan or space geometry), textual data(including any existing semantic designations, labels, or other text ona floor plan related to spaces of the floor plan), and image data(including an image of the floor plan, one or more images of portions ofthe floor plan, symbols of the floor plan, and other data related tovisual presentation of the floor plan). Each these types of data mayserve as input to one or more algorithms or models to perform semanticenrichment. In some embodiments, multiple algorithms or models may beused in the semantic enrichment process to arrive at a final semanticdesignation for a space.

In some embodiments, image and text data may be used to classifyelements of spaces within the floor plan, such as architectural featuresand furniture. Image data may be input into image classificationalgorithm 1087 configured to classify elements of the images that arefed into the algorithm. Image classification algorithm 1087 may be anartificial neural network, such as a residual neural network (ResNet). AResNet, for example, may be trained to classify furniture and/orequipment based on furniture and/equipment symbols within an image offloor plan or images associated with the metadata of BIM objects. As anillustrative example, floor plan pictures may be sent for machinelearning inferring via HTTP requests to a service that hosts a deeplearning model (RetinaNet) for furniture and equipment detection andlabeling. The service may receive the pictures, execute the model, andsend back the results in CSV format, consisting of the inferredfurniture and equipment. The results may include their type (label), thegeometry of the bounding boxes surrounding the furniture and equipment,as well as confidence rating of the prediction. The machine learninggenerated CSV furniture bounding boxes may be associated and matchedwith BMD furniture and equipment based on IOU (intersection over union).

Similarly, text data related to elements of spaces, such asarchitectural features and furniture, may be input into textclassification algorithm 1089. Text classification algorithm 1089 may bea machine learning algorithm, such a natural language processing (NLP)algorithm (e.g., word2vec or others). As described herein a machinelearning algorithm may be configured to classify a room element based onthe text associated with it. For example, a classify a data input with a“mattress” label as a “bed” label because of a learned associationbetween “mattress” and “bed.” In some embodiments, the machine learningalgorithm may be configured to classify incomplete or incorrect text, asdescribed above.

In some embodiments, the outputs of both the image classificationalgorithm 1087 and text classification 1089 may be provided together asinput into classification algorithm 1093. Classification algorithm 1093may be any of a variety of suitable classification, machine learning,artificial intelligence methods, or other suitable algorithms disclosedherein. Algorithm 1093 may provide classification for elementsassociated with a space based on both the prior image and textualclassifications. For example, image classification algorithm 1087 mayclassify an element as a “couch” based on the image or symbol of theelement in the floor plan. However, textual classification algorithm1089 may classify the same element as a “sectional,” based on the textassociated with the element. Both of these classifications may then beinput into classification algorithm 1093, which may ultimately classifythe element as a “sofa,” based on the prior classifications of “couch”and “sectional.” In some embodiments, classification algorithm 1093 mayinclude electing furniture and equipment types by comparing NLPconfidence ratings with deep learning confidence ratings. This processmay be executed by a Semantic enrichment service: the service may be anorchestrator of other 2 services making up the entire flow of enrichingan image PDF, CAD, BIM file RVT derived BMD derived BMD file with roomfunctions and/or classifying furniture and equipment according tosemantic designations.

Other text data related to a space as whole, but not necessarily to aspecific element of the space, may be input into text classificationalgorithm 1091. This may include room metadata including existing names,descriptions, labels and tags. Text classification algorithm 1091 may bemachine learning algorithm, such a natural language processing (NLP)algorithm. For example, a text data input may include a floor plan roomlabel of “Bob's sleeping quarters.” The NLP algorithm may classify thislabel as a “bedroom” label because of a learned association between“sleeping quarters” and “bedroom.” As another example, a group whosemetadata includes “Mutli-Person Work Area” is likely to be inferred as“Open Space Office,” and may also receive a higher confidence rating.

Resulting element classifications and space classifications based ontext, as well as geometric data or other data associated with a space ofa floor plan, may be input into room classification algorithm 1095 toproduce an ultimate classification for the room and a correspondingsemantic designation. Classification algorithm 1095 may be acomputational model, artificial intelligence model, or other modelconfigured to receive floor plan data as input and output semanticdesignations for spaces within the floor plan. In some embodiments,classification algorithm 1095 may be a decision tree, such as XGBoost,or another classification algorithm. As described above, classificationalgorithm 1095 may also output a confidence rating. In some embodiments,another type of classification algorithm may be used. In someembodiments, a different machine learning method may be used. Many otherartificial intelligence models, networks and algorithms may be used topredict room function. A Convolutional Neural Network, for example, maydetermine a semantic designation for a room using an image of the roomincluding its architectural features as an input in the model. In someembodiments, an ensemble of a plurality of different models may be used.In some embodiments, the input types may vary. For example, someembodiments may not use text classification or furniture classificationsas inputs.

Various other services may be provided a part of the semantic enrichmentservice. In some embodiments, this may include a furniture and equipmentclassification service, that hosts a RetinaNet based deep learningmodel, and receives inferring requests via HTTP messages consisting ofbitmap images. The service may returns tabular information in CSVformat, where each row consist of a inferred furniture and equipmentlabel (e.g. “chair,” “light switch”), the geometry of the bounding boxsurrounding the furniture and/or equipment, and confidence rating (from0 to 1).

In some embodiments, this may include a room function classificationservice, that hosts an XGBoost classifier model. The service may receiverequests via HTTP messages consisting of the model's architecturalfeatures (room properties such as area, perimeter length, number ofdoors, adjacent rooms, connected rooms, and number of occurrences ofeach furniture type within the room). The model may have been trainedusing a training set consisting of such architectural features for agiven set of rooms and labelled semantic designations such room functionfrom the set of rooms. The trained model may attempt to classify roomfunctions based on the aforementioned features, e.g. a small room with asink and a toilet should be inferred as a bathroom.

Additionally, the enrichment service may host an NLP model (word2vec)that may be used for inferring furniture and/or equipment metadata text(such as name and description) as an equipment or furniture type. Forexample, “Sink 120×70 White/Gray” may be inferred as “Sink”. Uponinstantiation, the service may subscribe to a dedicated SQS RVT derivedBMD enrichment request queue. When a message is sent to theaforementioned request queue, the service may receive it via SQS messagebroker. The request message may contain all resources and informationrequired to execute the enrichment flow. For example, the message mayinclude the S3 folder path to the BMD file; the S3 folder path to thefloor plans pictures of the accessed floor plan (image, CAD, PDF or BIMfile) drawing, as previously generated as part of the image or CAD orPDF or RVT to BMD translation flow; the S3 folder path to a JSON file,consisting of the properties of the floor plans picture, such as therelative dimensions of the floor plans; or similar information. Thisinformation may be used to associate BMD geometry with the floor planpictures. A process similar to the one described above may be used toadd semantic designations and/or classifications to architecturalfeatures, furniture and equipment.

Classification algorithm 1095 may receive as input the room elements andtext based room prediction from classification algorithms 1093 and 1091.It may also receive as an input data identifying room geometry, whichmay have been collected during a drawing process 1085 of the floor plan.Based on this input data, classification algorithm may generate aclassification for the room. Based on the classification, a roomfunction or semantic designation 1097 associated with the classificationmay be identified.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for rule-basedapplication of functional requirements to spaces in a floor plan,consistent with disclosed embodiments. Process 1100 may be performed bya processing device, such as any of the processors described throughoutthe present disclosure. It is to be understood that throughout thepresent disclosure, the term “processor” is used as a shorthand for “atleast one processor.” In other words, a processor may include one ormore structures that perform logic operations whether such structuresare collocated, connected, or disbursed. In some embodiments, anon-transitory computer readable medium may contain instructions thatwhen executed by a processor cause the processor to perform process1100. Process 1100 is not necessarily limited to the steps shown in FIG.11 and any steps or processes of the various embodiments describedthroughout the present disclosure may also be included in process 1100.

At step 1101, process 1100 may include accessing a floor plandemarcating a plurality of spaces. As described herein, floor plans maybe accessed in a variety of formats and may include other informationassociated with the spaces within the floor plan. A floor plan may beaccessed in a variety of ways including from a network location, a cloudstorage, local storage, or other types of access as described herein. Insome embodiments, floor plans may include or reference furniture orother architectural features. In some embodiments, step 1101 may includeperforming a floor plan analysis on the floor plan to identify contoursof a plurality of demarcated spaces of the floor plan.

At step 1103, process 1100 may include performing semantic enrichment onthe plurality of spaces in order to determine a semantic designation forat least one space of the plurality of spaces. In some embodiments, step1103 may include performing a semantic analysis, geometric analysis,topological analysis, image analysis, or other type of analysis asdescribed herein on the floor plan to generate floor plan data for inputinto a semantic enrichment algorithm. As described herein such floorplan data may include demarcations, tags, labels, architecturalfeatures, furniture, and other relevant features of the floor plan.

In some embodiments, step 1103 may include applying a semanticenrichment algorithm or model (e.g., an artificial intelligence method,computational algorithm, or other suitable model) to determine one ormore semantic designations for spaces of the floor plan based on theanalysis and any determined features. As described herein, in someembodiments, semantic enrichment may be performed using multiple typesof analysis or multiple computational algorithms. In some embodiments,step 1103 may include determining a confidence rating for a semanticdesignation, as described above.

At step 1105, process 1100 may include enriching the floor plan byassociating on the floor plan the semantic designation with the at leastone space. As described herein, associating a semantic designation witha space may be performed in several ways. In some embodiments,associating on the floor plan a semantic designation with a space mayinclude overlaying the semantic designation over the floor plan withinthe boundaries of the corresponding demarcated space. In someembodiments, a semantic designation may not necessarily be placed over afloor plan within the boundary of a space, but may be linked to a spacein other manners such as using lines, colors, shapes, or other suitableindicators. In some embodiments, step 1105 may include enriching a floorplan by associating a semantic designation with an architecturalfeature. In some embodiments, step 1105 may include adding a semanticdesignation to a zone associated with a space, as described above.Additionally, or alternatively, semantic enrichment may occur at ametadata level.

At step 1107, process 1100 may include identifying, in a data structure,a rule that includes a functional requirement based on the semanticdesignation. As described herein, a rule may be identified in a datastructure by querying the data structure. For example, a data structuremay be configured to return all stored rules associated with a certainsemantic designation when the semantic designation is entered as a queryto the structure. Additional details regarding rules and functionalrequirements are provided above.

At step 1109, process 1100 may include associating the identified rulewith the at least one space. For example, as described herein,associating may include creating a logical pair from two entities ofdifferent types, such as, in this case a rule and a space. In someembodiments, the pairing might take the form of an on-screenrepresentation or a logical pairing within an internal database or code.For example, a stored table may contain a list of identified rules andassociated spaces. In some embodiments, step 1109 may include applyingthe identified rule to one or more spaces of the floor plan. Forexample, a rule may specify that at least one light switch must bewithin 2 feet of every door in spaces with the semantic designation of“bedroom.” Accordingly, applying the rule may include adding lightswitches near doors in the floor plan with spaces having the semanticdesignation of “bedroom.” In some embodiments, the rule may be appliedin a manner that associates a functional requirement of the rule with aspace in a graphical representation of the floor plan. In someembodiments, step 1109 may include providing a prompt queryingacceptance or denial of an application of the function requirement toindividual spaces of the plurality of spaces by a user. According todisclosed embodiments, step 1109 may include generatively analyzing theplurality of spaces to determine an equipment placement location forindividual spaces of the plurality of spaces that at least partiallyconforms to the functional requirement.

Aspects of this disclosure may relate to systems, methods and computerreadable media for customizing equipment for use in buildings based onfloor plans. Installers of customized equipment face challenges indetermining the appropriate equipment for installation in each room,locations to install the equipment, and configurations of thecustomizable equipment. These problems may compound for large scale(i.e., mass) customization of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands ofrooms in floor plan. Embodiments may include using automated analysis tocustomize equipment and equipment locations on a large scale, and togenerate and provide information to manufactures and/or installers tofacilitate installation. This may include generating and applying labelsto equipment. Further, this may include using simulations toautomatically generate customized settings and placement location forequipment on a room-by-room basis (or similar basis) within a floorplan. This information, which may include a room identifier, may be sentto a manufacturer. In turn, the manufacturer may customize the productin a factory before shipping, which may include presetting a productaccording to the customized settings, and packaging the product with aroom identifier or other information.

For ease of discussion, a method is described below, with theunderstanding that aspects of the method apply equally to systems,devices, and computer readable media. For example, some aspects of sucha method may occur electronically over a network that is either wired,wireless, or both. Other aspects of such a method may occur usingnon-electronic means. In a broadest sense, the method is not limited toparticular physical and/or electronic instrumentalities, but rather maybe accomplished using many differing instrumentalities.

Disclosed embodiments may involve accessing a floor plan. As describedabove, the floor plan may include a graphic representation of ahorizontal section of a building, which may include an interior of thebuilding, an exterior of the building, or both. The floor plan may berepresented in any suitable format, including a hand-drawn or scannedimage, a vector-based format (e.g., CAD, PDF, DWG, SVG, or other 2Ddrawing formats), an image format (e.g., BMP, JPG, PNG, or similar imagefiles), a 3D models, a building information model (“BIM”) format, or anyother graphical or digital format. For example, accessing the floor planmay include accessing a CAD file or BIM file demarcating the boundaries(sometimes referred to as contours) of the plurality of rooms.

In some embodiments, the borders or contours of a room may not initiallybe demarcated in the floor plan in a machine readable format. In thisway, a floor plan may be imported in a format that lacks semanticdesignations or other indicators of room contours, and the disclosedembodiments may include processes to automatically add such contours. Ina CAD or PDF floor plan, for example, the data structure representingthe geometry used to symbolize or represent rooms including their walls,doors and other architectural feature many not contain any machinereadable metadata or semantic designations identifying them as such andmay only contain the actual points that make up the geometry. Forexample, there may be 4 points that constitute a rectangle, but withoutany semantical information relating to the function of the rectangle. Insuch files, the data structure may include a list of points (e.g.[(0,0), (2,2), . . . ]), rather than a list of points structured withassociated metadata or a semantic designation, e.g., [{name: line 0,type: wall, points: [(0, 0), (2, 2)]]. In some cases, a set of points orlines in a file may be grouped together in a layer which may beassociated with a name or other metadata. However, this metadata may beunstructured and not conform to a standard, convention, classificationand/or semantic designation. A layer, for example, containing linesrepresenting walls may be named “A3-1.” In an image file, therepresentations of room contours may only be pixels without anyassociated metadata or semantic designation. In some cases, roomdemarcations in BIM file such as walls, windows and doors may not bebound and/or associated with a room. This may be the result, forexample, of a user error during the creation of the BIM model or anissue with a BIM object. In some cases, in a BIM floor plan, the exactcontours of the room boundaries may be absent or may have not beenstored in a data structure or may not have been stored in a manner suchthat the demarcations can be accessed without user intervention, such asmanually identifying the demarcations and/or using another tool orcommand to identify the demarcations.

Accordingly, accessing the floorplan demarcating contours of a room mayinclude performing additional processing on the floor plan to demarcatethe contours of the room. This may include image processing, geometricanalysis, semantic analysis, machine learning methods, or any otheranalysis or processing techniques that may allow the system to identifythe contours of a room.

The floor plan can be accessed in a variety of ways. In someembodiments, the floor plan may be retrieved from a network location,such as a network drive, a cloud-based platform, a remote server, orother forms of network storage locations. The floor plan may also beaccessed from local storage, such as a local memory device associatedwith the processor performing the disclosed methods. In otherembodiments, the floor plan may be uploaded by a user, for example,through a user interface. Additional details regarding floor plans andthe accessing of floor plans are described throughout the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 12A is a block diagram illustrating an example process for masscustomization of equipment, consistent with the disclosed embodiments.As shown in step 1, the mass customization process may include accessingfloor plan 1210. Floor plan 1210 may include a plurality of rooms asillustrated in FIG. 12A.

Disclosed embodiments may further include accessing functionalrequirements associated with the plurality of rooms. As described above,the functional requirements may define expected or required performanceparameters for a system. The functional requirements may be specific toa particular room within a floor plan, or may apply to multiple rooms,such as a cluster of rooms, an area or zone within the floor plan, agroup of rooms having a particular room type, a particular floor, aparticular building, or any other basis for applying the functionalrequirement to a floor plan. Accordingly, each room within a floor planmay have a different set of functional requirements that apply. In someembodiments, at least two different functional requirements may beassociated with the plurality of rooms. These different functionalrequirements may be of the same type, or may be of different functionalrequirement types, as described in greater detail above. The functionalrequirements may be represented in the accessed floor plan (e.g.,through color indicators, textual information, symbology, patterns, orany other means of graphical representation), or may be stored in aseparate data structure configured to associate the functionalrequirements with one or more floor plans, rooms, areas, zones, orbuildings.

In some embodiments, the functional requirements may be adaptive. Inother words, the requirements may according to the context of theequipment with which it is associated. Examples of adaptive technicalspecifications may include “include IR illumination of a certain levelwith all outdoor cameras unless there is adjacent light source, in whichcase do nothing” or “place a ventilation system with a certainventilation, unless the area is a kitchen in which use a higherventilation rate.” In some embodiments, the technical specifications mayalso be adaptive. For example, technical specifications may be adaptiveaccording to the context of the functional requirement, technicalspecifications of other pieces of equipment, based on the room, the roomfunction, area, zone, or building, or any other variables. Examples mayinclude the selection of a waterproof power socket and/or a waterproofcover for a power socket in a bathroom or a wet area, electricalenclosures of a certain size based on the number of breakers required tobe housed inside of it, a thermostat with programmable features suitablefor a hotel guestroom, a distribution electrical panel withcharacteristics compatible with the main distribution panel inside abuilding, or an access point with a higher number of concurrent usersbased on its placement inside a room with a room function ofmulti-occupant office as opposed to single person office room function.The technical specifications may also be adaptive based on a geographiclocation of the building represented in the floor plan. In other words,technical specification may change according to the location simulated.For example, a power socket type, a voltage requirement, or applicablecode or standard may change depending on the country in which theequipment is located. Accordingly, the technical specification mayinclude a data structure or other data format linking a plurality ofgeographic locations to a respective set of technical parameters.

As shown in FIG. 12A, this may include accessing functional requirements1222. Functional requirements 1222 may include functional requirementsthat apply to all rooms within floor plan 1210, or may includefunctional requirements that apply to individual rooms or groups ofrooms (e.g., areas, zones, etc.) of floor plan 1210. In the exampleshown in FIG. 12A, functional requirements 1222 may relate to placementof one or more cameras within floor plan 1210. For example, thefunctional requirements may relate to pixel density, coveragerequirements, camera functions (e.g., monitoring, identification,recognition, etc.), or any other performance parameters that may relateto a camera device.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include accessingtechnical specifications associated with the functional requirements. Asdescribed above, the technical specification for a piece of equipmentmay refer to any means of identifying the equipment. The technicalspecification may include a model identifier, an equipment class,technical characteristics of the equipment, or any other means forspecifying a piece of equipment. Additional details regarding technicalspecifications are provided throughout the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the technical specifications may be included in orotherwise defined according to the functional requirements. For example,the functional requirement may specify a particular model or technicalcharacteristic or the equipment to be placed within a floor plan. Insome embodiments, the functional requirement may specify a performanceparameter, that may define the technical specification. For example, thefunctional requirement may define a network connection speed, and thetechnical specification may identify equipment, such as a wirelessrouter, that satisfies the network connection speed. In someembodiments, the association of a technical specification with afunctional requirement may constrain the search space for a generativeanalyzing process. For example, the technical specification of specificseries of sensors which may have a certain range of lens rotation ofview may limit the range of lens rotations simulations during anoptimization process. As another example, the technical specification ofspecific series of Bluetooth beacons which may only be wall-mountablemay limit the sampling points during an optimization process to thosepoints along the walls.

The technical specifications may be accessed in a variety of ways. Insome examples, the technical specifications may be stored in a databaseor other storage location. The technical specifications may beassociated with functional requirements in a data structure, andaccessing the technical specifications may include determining whichtechnical specifications are applicable according to the data structure.The technical specifications may be accessed over a network connection,for example, by accessing a remote server, a separate computing device,a cloud-based storage platform, or any other remote storage location. Inother embodiments, the technical specification may be stored locally,for example, in a local memory, a flash drive, in a transient memorydevice, or the like. In some embodiments, the technical specificationsmay be input by a user. For example, a user may define equipment to beused in one or more rooms or areas through a user interface. Further, asdescribed above, the technical specification may be determined based onparameters defined by the functional requirements. Accordingly,accessing the technical specification may include analyzing thefunctional requirements along with a plurality of equipment options toidentify the technical specifications.

As shown in FIG. 12A, this may include accessing technicalspecifications 1224. Technical specifications 1224 may specify one ormore technical characteristics of cameras to be installed in floor plan1210. For example, technical specifications 1224 may specify a cameramake or manufacturer, a camera model, a camera type (e.g., dome-type,etc.), power specifications, network connectivity parameters, an IPaddress, or any other camera characteristics. In some embodiments,technical specifications 1224 may partially define the fullspecifications for the cameras. For example, specific model numbers,lens configurations, or other properties may be unspecified and maydepend on particular features of a room in which they are located.

The disclosed methods may further include performing floor plan analysison the floor plan to distinguish the plurality of rooms from each other.In instances where the floor plan is represented as an image, this mayinclude applying one or more image processing techniques to identifylines or other geometric features within the floor plan, or the use ofmachine learning methods to segment rooms and/or room boundaries such aswalls. The floorplan analysis may further include a geometric analysisto identify properties of the geometric features and/or relationshipsbetween the geometric features. For example, this may includeidentifying perpendicular lines, identifying parallel lines, searchingfor lines or vectors having a certain angle, measuring distances betweenfeatures, identifying patterns of features in the floor plan, or anyother properties or relationships that may indicate room definitionswithin the floor plan. The geometric analysis may include identifyingcommon shapes that may indicate a room's function. For example, thefloor plan analysis may recognize the shape of a toilet and infer thatthe room containing the shape is a bathroom. The size of a room or otherproperties (e.g., placement along an exterior wall, placement near anexit, etc.) may also indicate a room's function, which may help todistinguish rooms from each other.

In some embodiments, the floor plan analysis may include a semanticanalysis, which may include analyzing properties or attributes ofobjects in a floor plan. For example, the floor plan may be representedas a BIM, CAD, or PDF file, which may contain metadata associated withshapes or lines in the floor plan. The semantic analysis may includeaccessing the information associated with the shapes, such as textualfields, layer properties, labels, comments, or any other forms ofinformation, which may indicate room boundaries or room classifications.A semantic analysis may include accessing and/or extracting data from aBIM file regarding room demarcations (otherwise referred to as roomcontours or room boundaries). In some embodiments, the floorplananalysis may further include use of a natural language processingalgorithm. For example, the analysis may include applying an algorithm,such as a word2vec algorithm or similar algorithm, to determine that“corridor” refers to a hallway or that “lavatory” refers to a bathroom.

The floor plan analysis may further allow the system to ascertain roomfeatures associated with the functional requirements and technicalspecifications. A room feature may include any aspect or component of abuilding associated within a room. The room feature may include anarchitectural feature, as described in greater detail herein. Forexample, the room feature may include a wall, a half wall, a door, awindow, a skylight, a column, stairs, a handrail, a beam, flooring, anelevator, a fireplace, or any other permanent or semi-permanent part ofthe building. In some embodiments, the room feature may include a shapeor dimension of the room. For example, the room feature may includewhether the room has a nook or a closet, a number of walls or cornersincluded in the room, a width of the room, a height of the room, or anyother features associated with a room geometry. The room feature mayinclude other properties, such as whether the room is along an exteriorof a building, whether the room is included in a particular zone,whether a government or industry standard applies to the room, or anyother descriptive properties. In some embodiments, the room features mayinclude a room function. For example, the floor plan analysis mayindicate that a room is a kitchen, which may be relevant to equipmentselection and configurations within the room. As another example, theroom features may include a furniture type. For example, the roomfeature may indicate whether the room includes desks and chairs, orspecific types of desks or chairs.

The room features may be associated with the functional requirements andtechnical specifications if they relate to or affect the functionalrequirements or technical specifications in any way. For example, thefunctional requirement may be an air turnover rate requirement for anHVAC system and the room feature may include a size of the room, whichmay define a sizing or other technical specifications for HVACequipment. As another example, the functional requirement may be aminimum lighting requirement for a room. The room feature may indicatethat the room is an interior room, which may indicate that ambientlighting will need to be installed. In some embodiments, the customizedequipment configuration may be determined based on a room function of atleast one room. For example, the functional requirement may define theprovisioning electrical sockets and the room function (e.g., bathroom)may indicate the room is wet space which may define a waterproofspecification for the electrical sockets.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include generativelyanalyzing the room features with reference to the functionalrequirements and the technical specifications to determine at least onecustomized equipment configuration for at least some of the plurality ofrooms. As described herein, a generative analysis may include anyprocess in which a solution to a problem is arrived at by acomputational device. For example, generative analysis may include aniterative process involving a program that generates a series of outputsmeeting predetermined constraints. Artificial intelligence techniquesmay be employed to identify the preferred solution from among theoutputs. In some embodiments, the generative analysis may include aseries of simulations that are evaluated against a functionalrequirement to determine conformance with the functional requirement.This may include an optimization process, in which the best alternativesfrom each simulation are modified and re-simulated in multipleiterations to reach an optimal solution, as described above with respectto FIG. 1. The generative analysis may include one or more algorithms,such as rule-based design, heuristics, L-systems, genetic algorithms,evolutionary algorithms, model-based solvers, machine learning models,decision trees, random forests, artificial intelligence methods,simulated annealing, or any other forms of analytical techniques. Thegenerative analysis process may not always include an optimization andmay include a calculation or more concrete analysis. In some embodimentsthe generative analysis may apply a rule-based functional requirementfor selecting and placing equipment. In this context, a rule may includeany logical relationship defining a functional requirement or how afunctional requirement should be applied, as described in greater detailabove. greater

In some embodiments, generative analysis may consider equipmenttechnical specifications and functional requirements across theplurality of rooms being analyzed. Accordingly, the generative analysismay include receiving, as an input, a technical specification for atleast one piece of equipment placed on the floor plan prior to thegenerative analyzing process. The generative analysis may seek to avoidunnecessary duplication of equipment, code and compliance issues,clashing equipment locations, and incompatible or inconsistent technicalspecifications or manufacturers across a plurality of rooms in a givenlevel or a project.

The generative analysis may result in customized equipmentconfigurations, as noted above. As used herein, a customized equipmentconfiguration may refer to any parameter or technical characteristic ofa piece of equipment that is selected according to the features of aroom. For example, customized equipment configuration may includecustomizations to the mounting configuration, resolution, decibelrating, luminosity, IR rating, lens type, network speed, networkconnection type, wattage or other power requirements, color, finish,dimensions, materials of construction, flammability rating,water-resistance rating, a number of connection ports, or any otherproperty of a piece of equipment. These customizations are provided byway of example and it is understood that many other customized equipmentconfigurations may apply, depending on the type of equipment beingcustomized. In some embodiments, the customized equipment configurationmay include a customization to the technical specifications accessed bythe system. The customized equipment configuration may affect theequipment behavior, appearance, or performance according to specificfeatures of the room in which it is placed such that the equipment atleast partially conforms with the functional requirements of the room.

In some embodiments, the customized equipment configuration may includea physical equipment device setting. This may include any setting,alteration, adjustment, or other manipulation to a physical component ofa piece of equipment. For example, the physical equipment device settingmay include an orientation, rotation, aperture setting, field of viewsetting, and/or tilt of a lens in a CCTV camera in a manner that differsfrom its default factory setting. Other examples may include the settingof voltage switch, the inclusion of a button, a varifocal adjustment ofa lens, the connection of a cable, the installation of an accessory,equipment dimensions or shape, a battery type or size, a motor size orconfiguration, a lubrication type, a filter size or type, a spring sizeor type, a material selection, a paint or finish type (e.g., color,coating thickness, application methods, etc.), specifications for a boltor other fastener, an orifice size, a seal type or material, a doorswing direction, or any other physical characteristics of a piece ofequipment.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the customized equipmentconfiguration may include a programming parameter. As described ingreater detail above, a programming parameter may include any variable,input, or field associated with the firmware, operating software,programming software, communication protocol, or other electronicconfiguration for a piece of equipment that may influence its operationor performance. In some embodiments, the programming parameter may berelated to a communications address or network of a device. For example,the customized equipment configuration may include setting of an IPaddress, a KNX address, an addressable fire alarm address, a BACNET/IPaddress, or any other form of identifier of a node within a network.Similarly, the customized equipment configuration may include acommunications protocol. As used herein, a communication protocol mayrefer to a system of rules that allow two or more pieces of equipment tosend and receive information. The communications protocol may definesrules, syntax, semantics, and/or synchronization of a communication.Example communication protocols may include TCP/IP, BANET/IP, MODBUS,KNX, BLUETOOH, ZIGBEE, or similar protocols. The communication protocolsmay apply to transmission of information over wired, wireless, or hybridnetworks.

Consistent with the disclosed embodiments, the programming parameter mayinclude the selection of firmware and/or operating software of a pieceof equipment. For example, the customized configuration may include afirmware or firmware type to be installed in a memory associated withthe equipment. As used herein, firmware may refer to a type of softwarethat provides the low-level control (e.g. standardized operatingenvironment or even complete operating system) for a piece ofequipment's hardware. It may perform some or all of the control,monitoring, and/or data manipulation functions for the equipment. Thefirmware may be permanent software installed in a read-only memory of apiece of equipment. Examples of equipment with firmware may includethermostats, access control readers, controllers, and the like. In someembodiments, the customized configuration may include a firmware versionto be installed on the piece of equipment.

In some embodiments, the programming parameter may include the setpointor programming a particular operation or series of operations. Forexample, the programming parameter may direct a piece of equipment toturn on at 6:00 AM and to enter a standby mode at 6:00 PM. In someembodiments, the programming parameter may include a conditional orlogical event. For example, the programming parameter may direct a pieceof equipment to turn off at 6:00 PM if no people are present in a room,or similar conditional logic. As another example, the programmingparameter may trigger an alert to be sent if a certain event, such asmaximum occupancy threshold in a room being exceeded, occurs. In someembodiments, the generated programming parameter may be adaptive to theroom's function (e.g., private office, corridor, etc.). For example, fora given functional requirement to control lighting fixtures with alighting controller, the lighting in a hotel corridor may be programmedto be on between the hours of 6:00 am-12:00 am, while the lighting in ahotel lobby may be programmed to be always on. As another example, for agiven functional requirement to capture video a given pixel density, thecameras in a lobby area may be programmed for continuous recording at acertain frame rate and resolution whereas the cameras in a storage roommay be set to only record upon detection of movement at a lower framerate and resolution.

A customized equipment configuration in accordance with the presentdisclosure may include the aggregation of at least two different piecesof equipment. As used herein, an aggregation of equipment may refer totwo or more pieces of equipment that are combined physically orlogically to form a functional or logical unit. Example combinations mayinclude a lighting switch with a switch plate cover, a camera with alens, an electrical enclosure with electrical circuit breakers, acontroller with a power supply, an access control reader with acontroller, an access control reader with a power supply, a smokedetector with a mount, or any other pairs or groupings of equipment. Theaggregation may be a physical combination (e.g., a fuse inside a pieceof equipment) or a relational or logical combination (e.g. an accessreader paired with a controller via a cable connection, or a beaconpaired with a transmitter via a wireless connection). In someembodiments, the aggregated equipment may be fabricated or deliveredinside a common chassis, housing, rack, or enclosure. In someembodiments, the customized equipment setting can refer to the spacingand/or organization of aggregated equipment. For example, the customizedequipment setting may define the layout and spacing of electricalbreakers and fuses within an electrical panel, or similar spacing orlayout of components. The customized equipment setting may include ordercodes for the aggregated equipment components.

In some embodiments, the customized equipment setting may specifyprimary equipment and at least one piece of auxiliary equipment. As usedherein, auxiliary equipment may include but is not limited to a piece ofelectronic, mechanical, or any other type of hardware that contributesto the function, installation, or operation of a primary piece ofequipment. Example auxiliary equipment may include control devices,mounting hardware, batteries, cables or wiring, bolts, screws, nuts,flanges, spare equipment, or any other items that may be associated withthe primary equipment. The example customized equipment settingsdescribed herein are provided by way of example. Various othercustomized equipment settings may apply, depending on the equipmentand/or application.

In some embodiments, the generative analysis may include determining apreferred equipment placement location. For example, the generativeanalysis may include simulating a same piece of equipment (or differingpieces of equipment) in differing locations in a room to therebydetermine a preferred equipment placement location for a particularpiece of equipment. As described above, this may include simulating aplurality of initial placement options for a piece of equipment,determining the best solutions of the initial placement options, andre-simulating the placement options with modifications to determine anoptimal solution. The optimal solution may be a solution that bestconforms to functional requirements and/or other constraints (e.g., usersettings, etc.) associated with a room. In some embodiments, theoptimization may also take into consideration preferred or undesirableareas for equipment placement, which may be specified by a user, definedaccording to one or more rules, or otherwise identified. A preferredsolution may be specific to a room or may be a preferred solution when anumber of rooms are taken into account. For example, preferred Wi-Ficoverage in one room might depend in part on Wi-Fi equipment to beinstalled in an adjoining room or a nearby room.

Referring to FIG. 12A, the disclosed embodiments may include performinggenerative analysis 1230, which may include floor plan 1210, functionalrequirements 1222, and technical specifications 1224 as inputs. Thegenerative analysis may determine equipment placement locations for aplurality of cameras within floor plan 1210, such as cameras 1242, 1244,1246, and 1248. The generative analysis may output a customized floorplan 1240 including the equipment placement locations, as describedabove. For example, customized floor plan 1240 may be an image file withequipment placement locations overlaid on the image, a vector or drawingfile including the equipment placement locations, a BIM file containingBIM objects associated with the equipment placement locations, a text ordata file including equipment placement coordinates, or any othersuitable means for representing locations within the floor plan. Forease of discussion and illustration, floor plan 1240 in FIG. 12Aillustrates four adjoining rooms. It is to be understood that thegenerative analysis may be performed on many rooms (e.g., 10's, 100's or1000's of rooms) simultaneously, as part of the same generative process,and/or sequentially.

Generative analysis 1230 may also determine customized equipmentconfigurations for the cameras. For example, as shown in FIG. 12A,generative analysis 1230 may determine customized equipmentconfigurations 1252, 1254, 1256, and 1258. While each of cameras 1242,1244, 1246, and 1248 may have the same manufacturer and based model,there may be slight variations in the configurations of the cameras.These variations may be based on particular features of the respectiverooms the cameras are placed in, different functional requirements fordifferent rooms, or a combination of both. In the example shown in FIG.12A, the customized equipment configurations may include a specifiedmodel number, as well as customized vertical and horizontal cameraorientations for cameras 1242, 1244, 1246, and 1248. For example, theshape or size of the room in which camera 1242 is placed may result in adifferent model number than camera 1244. Similarly, camera 1246 may havea different vertical and horizontal camera orientation than cameras1242, 1244, and 1248. As shown in FIG. 12A, the generative analysis mayalso specify X, Y, and Z coordinates defining preferred placementlocations for each of the cameras. The coordinates may be in referenceto a coordinate system of floor plan 1240, a coordinate system of therespective rooms, a real-word coordinate system, or any other suitablerepresentation of a placement location as described throughout thepresent disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include generating amanufacturer dataset including the at least one customized equipmentconfiguration. As used herein, a manufacturer data set may include a setof instructions for an equipment manufacturer specifying detailsrelating to the manufacture, calibration, programming, packaging,labeling, shipment, and or installation of the equipment. Themanufacturer data set may fully specify the equipment or may be apartial specification. Information in the dataset may include but is notlimited to a brand, series, model, type, color, configuration,accessories, equipment address, technical specifications of otherequipment located inside and/or outside the room, firmware, panel orenclosure layout, dimensions, auxiliary equipment, room architecturalfeatures, room function, and/or any other information needed to producethe item, including the customized equipment configurations describedabove. The manufacturer dataset may include information for equipment tobe installed in a particular building, equipment to be installed in aparticular zone or area of a building, equipment associated with aparticular project, equipment associated with a particular phase of aproject, equipment of a particular type, equipment to be supplied from aparticular manufacturer, equipment included in an particular order, orany other grouping of equipment or a subset thereof.

Information in the dataset may also include location information. Insome embodiments, this may include a room identifier. The roomidentifier may be any information identifying a room in which anassociated piece of equipment is to be placed. The room identifier maybe a numeric identifier (e.g., “room 501”), a textual identifier (e.g.,“judge's chamber”), a graphical indicator (e.g., an image, a symbol, alogo, etc.) identifying a particular room or room function, or any otherinformation that may identify a room. The room identifier may alsoinclude a building number, a building section, a building wing, aproject name or number, tenant information, a classification numberaccording to an international standard, or any other information thatmay indicate a room. In some embodiments, the room indicator may berepresented on a floor plan. For example, the room indicator may includea floor plan with the associated room highlighted based on color,shading, outlining, or other means for specifying a room. The locationinformation may also include coordinates of the room or the equipmentplacement location (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z coordinates) in relation toroom, in relation to floor of a building, coordinates in relation tobuilding, in real-world coordinates, or any other coordinate system. Insome embodiments, a graphical indicator may include a perspective viewof the installation location. The perspective view might include anillustration of the equipment, properly installed.

In some aspects of the disclosed embodiments, generating themanufacturer data set may include generating the room identifier bymeans of a semantic enrichment process. Semantic enrichment may refer tothe process of adding missing or misrepresented semantic information toan architectural floor plan. In this context, semantic enrichment may beused to classify a room type by recognizing features of the room.Semantic enrichment may for, example, determine a room function. Theclassification of a room by type may include assigning a textual roomfunction (e.g. private office) and/or a classification number which maybe specified by a standard (e.g., 12566789, which may represent aprivate office according to a standard). For example, an office may berecognized as a small, square room with a door, window, desk and chairor other features common to an office. Semantic enrichment includes, butis not limited to, the use of semantic, geometric, topological or imageanalysis together with a computational algorithm (heuristic, stochasticor machine learning based), and artificial intelligence methods to addinformation to a floor plan.

In some embodiments, the manufacturer data set may include a levelidentifier. The level identifier may indicate the floor for which apiece of equipment is meant. The level indicator may be represented as afloor number (e.g, 0, 1, 2) a floor name or description (e.g., basement,ground, roof, etc.) a height relative to a reference point associatedwith the building (e.g., +0.00, +5.00, etc.) an absolute height from sealevel (e.g., +182.1), or any other information that may specify a flooror a combination such information.

In some embodiments, the manufacturer data set may include an equipmentidentifier. The equipment identifier may be any information identifyinga particular piece of equipment or a group of equipment. The equipmentidentifier may include a numeric identifier (e.g., “Model IPC-D1B41”), atextual identifier (e.g., “20 amp lighting switch”), a graphicalrepresentation (e.g., an image, symbol, etc.) of an equipment model,manufacturer, or classification (e.g., a type according to a standardsuch as OmniClass), or any other information identifying a piece ofequipment. In some embodiments, in addition to identifying the equipmenttechnical specifications, the identifier may also identify its location.For example, the equipment identifier may include a floor plan with theplacement of the equipment indicated on the floor plan through agraphical representation (e.g., a graphical indicator, etc.), or otherinformation indicating a placement location. In some embodiments, theequipment identifier may be a unique identifier for the equipment. Theunique identifier may be unique relative to a building, a site location,a company or organization, a project, a floor or other subdivision of abuilding, or any other grouping of equipment.

A manufacturer data set in accordance with the present disclosure mayfurther include other identifiers associated with the room or thecustomized equipment. For example, the manufacturer data set may includea room function identifier. The room function identifier may be anyinformation representing a class or purpose of a room. This may includea semantic designation of the room a piece of equipment is to be placedin. The manufacturer data set may include a project identifier. Aproject identifier may refer to an indication of a project a piece ofequipment is associated with. The project identifier may include aproject name, a project number, a geographic location, a client, aproject address or location, a construction company, a project phase, orany other information that may identify a project.

The manufacturer data set may be generated in a manner enabling amanufacturer to customize equipment for each of the plurality of rooms.For example, the manufacturer data set may include the customizedequipment configuration one or more pieces of equipment. Themanufacturer data set may further enable a manufacturer to package thecustomized equipment in a manner displaying the room identifier. As usedherein, packaging of equipment may include enclosing the equipment in abox or other container. Customized packaging may include within thepackaging a representation of the customization preformed on theequipment, the room identifier, or any other information included in themanufacturer data set. In some embodiments, the room identifier andother information may be printed on the packaging (or printed on a labelof the packaging). This may include printed text, printed images,printed scannable codes including the information (e.g., barcodes, QRcodes, data matrices, PDF417 codes, or any other form ofmachine-readable code), or any other form of printed representation ofthe information. In some embodiments, the information may be included inan electronic format. For example, some or all of the information may beincluded in an RFID tag that may be scanned to receive informationrepresented in the tag.

As discussed above, the customized equipment configuration may includegenerating a programming parameter for one or more pieces of equipment.Accordingly, the manufacturer data set may further include at least oneprogramming parameter to thereby enable the manufacturer to configurethe customized equipment. As described above, the programming parametermay be a variable or input to for the firmware or software of a piece ofequipment. The manufacturer may customize the equipment for variousplacement locations based on the programming parameter included in themanufacturer data set, which may include programming the parameter intothe firmware or software, including instructions to program theparameter into the firmware or software, including customized softwareon a separate medium (e.g., a flash drive, a CD, via an electronic link,etc.), or other forms of customization based on the programmingparameter. The customized equipment may be noted specifically on thepackaging for the customized equipment. This may include a specificdesignation of the programming parameter on the packaging.Alternatively, or additionally, this may be represented through otherinformation, such as an equipment identifier, a custom model number, arepresentation of the intended placement location, or any other means ofdistinguishing the equipment from other equipment.

In some embodiments, the manufacturer dataset may further includeproduct orientation information for the manufacturer to package with thecustomized equipment. In this context, product orientation informationmay refer to any information added signifying the direction a piece ofequipment is facing or is intended to face. The product orientation maybe represented as a horizontal and vertical rotation, an absolutedirection vector, a yaw, pitch and roll, or any other type of notationused to define angles in a space. The product orientation may be a 2Dorientation (e.g., within a plane) or a 3D orientation (e.g., within athree dimensional space, such as a room). The product orientation may berepresented on the packaging of the customized equipment. In someembodiments, the label may present the product orientation in a textformat, as a graphical representation, as a machine-readable code, orother manner of presenting information. For example, the packaging mayinclude a label with a floor plan including a symbol oriented torepresent the product orientation.

In some example embodiments, the manufacturer dataset may furtherinclude equipment placement location data, to thereby enable themanufacturer to package the equipment placement location data with thecustomized equipment. As described above, the equipment placementlocation data may specify the equipment placement location for a pieceof equipment. the equipment placement location data may be representedin coordinates (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z coordinates) in relation to room,in relation to floor of a building, coordinates in relation to building,in real-world coordinates, or any other coordinate system. In someembodiments, the equipment placement location data may include arepresentation of a floor plan. For example, the equipment placementlocation data may include an image, a vector file, a drawing file, a BIMfile, or similar file including a representation of the equipmentplacement location for one or more pieces of equipment. Packaging theequipment placement location data with the customized equipment mayinclude presenting the equipment placement location for a piece ofequipment on the equipment packaging. This may include a textualrepresentation, a graphical representation, a machine-readable code, orany other manner of representing the information.

According to some embodiments, of the present disclosure, the generativeanalysis may include generating a wiring diagram. In such embodiments,the manufacturer dataset may further include the wiring diagram. Asdescribed above, the wiring diagram may include a representation ofelectrical, audio, video, data or any other cables connecting pieces ofequipment to each other and a main controlling panel. The wiring diagrammay be generated during the generative analysis according to any of thevarious embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. Forexample, generating the wiring diagram may include generating a seriesof interconnected nodes across a floor plan. The nodes may be adjustedaccording to preferred corridors, to avoid obstacles, to optimize wiringlengths, or based on any other constraints. The wiring diagram may berelevant for customization of the equipment by the manufacturer. Forexample, the manufacturer may be enabled to add information to thewiring diagram, such as highlighting the respective equipment on awiring diagram for each piece of equipment, adding additionalinformation (such as voltage, data connectivity, or other requirements),grouping equipment based on the wiring diagram (e.g., packagingequipment along the same wiring corridor together, labeling equipmentalong the same wiring pathway with a certain indicator, or other meansof grouping equipment) or other ways of customizing the wiring diagram.In some embodiments, the customization may include physical orprogramming changes based on the wiring diagram. For example, the wiringdiagram may indicate a number of ports to be included in the equipment,a voltage requirement, a data connectivity requirement, an IP address,or other values or parameters that may be indicated on the wiringdiagram.

In some embodiments, the manufacturer dataset may include a graphicalrepresentation of the room for which equipment is intended with anindication in the graphical representation of an equipment placementlocation. This may thereby enable the manufacturer to package thegraphical representation of the room with the customized equipment. Forexample, the graphical representation of the room may include an image,BIM file or CAD file for the room. The graphical representation mayfurther include surrounding portions or areas of the floor plan,including an entire floor, a region or area, a group of rooms, a wing, abuilding, or other portions of a floor plan. In such embodiments, theroom may be highlighted, for example, by a bold outline, by color,through shading or patterns, or other means of highlighting the room.The graphical representation of the equipment placement location mayinclude a symbol indicating the intended location, which may include anequipment placement location determined as part of the generativeanalysis, as described above. The symbol may be placed spatially withinthe representation of the room to correspond to the actual intendedequipment placement location. The symbol may be a picture of theequipment, an icon representing the equipment, a generic symbol (e.g.,an “X,” a circle, an arrow, a generic equipment symbol, a company logo,etc.), a textual indicator (e.g., an equipment identifier, a modelnumber, words such as “install here,” etc.) or any other manner ofindicating location. The manufacturer may package the graphicalrepresentation of the room with the customized equipment by includingthe graphical representation in the packaging (e.g., printed on a paperinsert, printed on a customized instructions or installation guide,etc.), printing the graphical representation on a surface of thepackaging, printing the graphical representation on a label to beapplied to the packaging, including the graphical representation (or alink to the graphical representation) in a machine-readable code,including the graphical representation (or a link to the graphicalrepresentation) in an electronically scannable medium, such as a RFIDchip, or any other means for including the graphical representation.

In some embodiments, the manufacturer dataset may include a labellayout. The label layout may specify how information is to be presentedon a product label by a manufacturer. The label layout may specify whatinformation is to be included, the position of the included information,the manner in which information is to be included, spacing requirements,font or other formatting requirements, the inclusion of company orproject logos, or any other details that may be specified on a label.

FIG. 12B illustrates an exemplary label layout for customized label1270. The label may include a portion 1272 that identifies the productby type, model number, image and bar code identifier. Another portion1274 of the label 1270 may identify the building or project to ensurethat the package makes it to the correct room. This may include anidentification of the project, the building, the floor and the room.Another portion of the label 1276 might include a graphical indicationof the room and/or the placement location. For example, on label 1270, aperspective view of the room may be illustrated along with the equipmentplacement location and a arrow indicating equipment orientation. Inaddition, portion 1278 of label 1270 might include installationinstructions. Additional pieces of information from the manufacturer'sdata set such as a device address (e.g. IP address such as, for example,192.168.1.15), or fewer pieces of information may be included on thelabel, depending on the requirements of a specific project. By requiringthe manufacturer to include such a label on every piece of equipment,the chances of error both in terms of the wrong equipment installed inthe wrong room, incorrect equipment placement, and incorrect equipmentorientation can be minimized. Moreover, each piece of equipment can becustom configured at the manufacturer for specific rooms, greatlyreducing set up time on site. Particularly for large constructionprojects where hundreds or thousands of pieces of equipment might beordered, this system allows a data file to be transmitted electronicallyto the manufacturer, enabling the manufacturer in an automated orsemi-automated way to fulfill the custom order and label each piece ofequipment in a custom way.

In some embodiments, the label layout may contain an image of a portionof the floor plan illustrating the room to which the equipment is to beinstalled, along with a room identifier. The floor plan may include thefloor plan of the particular room or a floor plan of an entire floor,building, wing, or other area including the room. The label layout mayfurther contain a graphical representation of an equipment placementlocation associated with the customized equipment. For example, thefloor plan may include a symbol representing the equipment placementlocation relative to the room, such as is illustrated in a centerportion of label 1270 in FIG. 12B. In some embodiments, the graphicalrepresentation may include other information associated with thecustomized equipment characteristics, such as a product orientation, aviewing angle, a product color, a product model, or any otherinformation that may be represented graphically.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include outputting themanufacturer data set. This may include any means of providing or makingthe data set available. In some embodiments, this may includetransmitting the manufacturer data set electronically. This may includetransmitting the manufacture data set via email, through a secureconnection, uploading the data to a network location (e.g., a cloudstorage platform, a project Sharepoint™ site, a shared network folder,or other forms of remote server locations), or any other means fortransmitting data electronically. The transmission may be to themanufacturer, to a third party (e.g., a construction contractor, aproject manager, an engineering or architectural firm, or any otherentity that may be involved in design, planning, or installationassociated with the equipment. This transmission may be to an enterpriseresource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), orsimilar types of systems. In some embodiments, some or all of themanufacturer data set may be exported to a machine readable format. Forexample, the data may be represented in a barcode, a QR code, a datamatrix, a PDF417 code, a proprietary or customized code, or any otherform of machine-readable code. In some embodiments, the manufacturerdata set may be exported to a third party application or softwareprogram. For example, the manufacturer data set may be exported in aformat accessible by particular software program, including a CADsoftware package, a BIM authoring tool and/or software package, aconstruction planning tool, a product labeling software, a 3D-printingsoftware package, or any other form of software that may process, store,or use information included in the manufacturer data set.

In some embodiments, the system may be a cloud-based system. Forexample, the methods described herein may be executed in a virtualinstance by a remote computer, rather than a local processor.Cloud-based computation can provide advantages in scalability, cost, andsecurity over approaches that rely on local computational orconventional servers.

Referring to FIG. 12A, the disclosed systems may generate manufacturerdata set 1260. Manufacturer data set 1260 may include some or all of theparameter specified in customized equipment configurations 1252, 1254,1256, and 1258, as shown. Manufacturer data set 1260 may include otherforms of information as described above, including intended placementlocations, equipment identifiers, or other information related tocameras 1242, 1244, 1246, and 1248. Based on manufacturer data set 1260,a manufacturer may be enabled to package equipment to include some orall of the information included in manufacturer data set 1260 for aparticular piece of customized equipment. In some embodiments, this mayinclude affixing a customized label 1270 to the package. As discussedearlier in connection with FIG. 12B, Label 1270 may include an image ofthe customized equipment, a project name, a project number, a roomidentifier, a floor identifier, product orientation information, agraphical representation of an intended room for the equipment to beinstalled, a graphical representation of an intended placement location,coordinates, or other information indicating the placement location, amodel number, a series number, a product name, a logo, or any otherinformation that may be relevant to the installation, shipment, or useof the customized equipment. In some embodiments, some or all of theinformation included in the manufacturer data set may be represented ina machine-readable format, which may facilitate handling, storage,installation, or other procedures associated with the equipment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 1300 forcustomizing equipment for use in buildings based on floor plans,consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Process 1300 may be performedby a processing device, such as any of the processors describedthroughout the present disclosure. In some embodiments, a non-transitorycomputer readable medium may contain instructions that when executed bya processor cause the processor to perform process 1300. Process 1300 isnot necessarily limited to the steps shown in FIG. 13 and any steps orprocesses of the various embodiments described throughout the presentdisclosure may also be included in process 1300.

At step 1302, process 1300 may include accessing a floor plandemarcating a plurality of rooms. As described above, the floor plan mayinclude any graphic representation of an interior of a building, anexterior of a building, or both. In some embodiments, the demarcationsmay not be included in the floor plan and step 1302 may further includedetermining the demarcations through an machine learning methods orgeometric analysis, as described above. In some embodiments, the floorplan may demarcate a plurality of zones in addition to or instead of thedemarcations for the plurality of rooms.

At step 1304, process 1300 may include accessing functional requirementsassociated with the plurality of rooms. In some embodiments, at leasttwo different functional requirements may be associated with theplurality of rooms. These different functional requirements may be ofthe same type, or may be of different functional requirement types, asdescribed in greater detail above. At step 1306, process 1300 mayinclude accessing technical specifications associated with thefunctional requirements. The technical specifications may include amodel identifier, an equipment class, technical characteristics ofequipment, or any other means for specifying a piece of equipment.

At step 1308, process 1300 may include performing a floor plan analysison the floor plan to distinguish the plurality of rooms from each otherand to ascertain room features associated with the functionalrequirements and technical specifications. The floor plan analysis mayinclude an image processing technique, a geometric analysis, a semanticanalysis, a machine learning method, or other analytical techniques thatmay indicate room boundaries or features. As described above, the roomfeatures may include any aspect or component of a building associatedwithin a room.

At step 1310, process 1300 may include generatively analyzing the roomfeatures with reference to the functional requirements and the technicalspecifications to determine at least one customized equipmentconfiguration for at least some of the plurality of rooms.

At step 1312, process 1300 may include generating a manufacturer datasetincluding a room identifier, an equipment identifier, and the at leastone customized equipment configuration. The room identifier may be anumber, a text-based identifier, a graphical representation of the room,or any other means for identifying a room. The room identifier mayindicate an intended placement location for the equipment customized bythe customized equipment configuration. The equipment identifier mayinclude a number, a text-based identifier, a graphical representation,or any other means for identifying the customized equipment. Themanufacturer dataset may be generated in a manner enabling amanufacturer to customize equipment for each of the plurality of roomsand to package the customized equipment in a manner displaying the roomidentifier. In some embodiments, process 1300 may further include othersteps such as outputting the manufacturer dataset, as discussed above.

In accordance with the present disclosure, systems, methods, andcomputer readable media may be provided for selecting equipment for usein buildings. Embodiments may include generating solutions that includeselected equipment and then updating the solutions based on iterativeanalysis and/or user input. In this way, embodiments can flexibly arriveat improved solutions that at least partially conform to variousfunctional requirements. Selected equipment may refer to a piece ofelectronic, mechanical or any other type of hardware, cabinetry orfurniture, or any other element of a building that has a function and/ora technical specification. In the present disclosure, equipment issometimes referred to as “primary equipment” differentiating it fromauxiliary equipment which is defined elsewhere.

For example, a system may determine a piece, set, or group of equipmentwith an associated use, function, or purpose in a building. Additionallyor alternatively, the system may determine the equipment placementlocation within a building including any supporting systems oradditional equipment necessary for the piece, set, or group of equipmentto accomplish the associated use, function, or purpose (e.g., wiringassociated with a piece of electrical equipment).

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may include a datastructure for storing equipment models and their technicalspecifications. A data structure may refer to any type of data stored inan organized, searchable manner. Data can contain textual, tabular,numeric or image information which describes equipment, for example.Further, data associated with a piece of equipment may contain itsmodel, type, brand, series, price information, specific properties (sucha IR rating or weather resistance), a technical specification, aphysical description or a picture of the object. The data may be storedin SQL, MongoDB, AWS S3, CSV, XLS, JSON or any other data storageformat. Data may be stored locally or in a cloud-based server. In somecases, data may be accessible using simple queries (e.g., retrieve aspecific piece of equipment) or complex queries (e.g., retrieve allmodel numbers of all equipment of a certain type). Data may be enteredmanually into the data structure or imported electronically.

Disclosed embodiments may include receiving a floor plan demarcatingcontours of a room. A floor plan may include any depiction of a facilitylayout. Further, receiving a floor plan may include any means ofaccessing a floor plan, as described here. Additionally, a floor planmay be received in any medium containing a layout representation. Forexample, a floor plan may be received as a digital, textual, hand drawn,hard copy, photographic, or any other format capable of being stored ina data structure. A floor plan may in 2D or 3D or any combinationthereof. A floor plan may be contained in image file, PDF file, CAD fileor Building Information Model (BIM) file. In some embodiments, the datastructure of the original floor plan or architectural file (e.g. BIMfile) may be converted to another format. For example, a CAD or IFC filemay be converted to a gzip compressed JSON object containinghierarchical buildings information. The JSON object may be constructedin a way that represents the hierarchy of one or multiple buildings. Theinformation stored in the object may contain metadata, such asinformation about architectural features, as described above.

Room demarcations may indicate the location of a room in a plan inrelation to the rest of the plan. For example, a room demarcation mayalso include the boundaries or contours of the room. Objects, real orimaginary, that constitute the rooms borders of the room may be includedin room demarcations. Demarcations may indicate walls or windows thatsurround a room, and openings associated with the room's borders such asdoors or windows leading in and out of the room. In some cases,demarcations may include equipment and/or architectural features,columns, beams, furniture, or other objects contained in the room. Insome embodiments, the borders or contours of a room may not initially bedemarcated in the floor plan in a machine readable format. Accordingly,accessing the floor plan may further include automatically identifyingcontours or other room features, as described above.

In some embodiments receiving a floor plan demarcating contours of aroom may include performing image processing on the floor plan todemarcate the contours of the room. For example, a floor plan may bereceived as an image, CAD, or PDF file. The system may use semanticanalysis, geometric analysis, and/or machine learning methods todemarcate contours of one or more rooms. Semantic analysis, geometricanalysis, and machine learning methods may include but are not limitedto the techniques described herein. Semantic analysis may include but isnot limited to the methods of adding semantic designations describedherein, including semantic enrichment.

More generally, contours of a room may be identified using geometricanalysis, topological analysis and/or BIM analysis and/or semanticanalysis and/or machine learning methods may be used to classify a roomand/or determine its function. Methods may also be used to classify aspace in a floor plan as, for example, a bedroom based on room featuressuch as topological connections, area, furniture, and number of doorsand windows. As illustrative non-limiting examples, number of doors andrelation between area and perimeter can be used to identify corridors.The existence of sanitary utilities can indicate a bathroom. Stair-likefeatures with an egress can indicate a stairway. Performing theseanalyses in combination with a machine learning model may result inimprovements in efficiency, speed, accuracy, and level of detail ofselective simulation of equipment coverage in a floor plan.

As another example, contours may be identified using topologicalanalysis, which may include an analysis of connectivity of spaces withina floor plan. Topological analysis can reveal information regarding theproperties of these spaces. For example, topological analysis may definerelationships between rooms and their position in the floor planhierarchy based on a door that connects them. Topological analysis maybe used to create spatial maps, such as a heatmap, or a weighted graphthat illustrates connectivity by highlighting shortest paths through afloor plan between two locations.

Further, the system may use building information model (BIM) analysis toidentify contours of a floor plan. BIM may include an analysis of a BIMmodel (e.g., a three dimensional representation of a building withassociated labels, BIM objects and parametric data) using a combinationof geometric analysis, semantic analysis, and machine learning methodsaimed at extracting specific information regarding the architecture of afloor plan. The results of a BIM analysis may include a set of roomboundaries, names, numbers and descriptions of the rooms, walls, doorsand windows associated with said rooms, materiality and description ofany of these elements, etc.

In some embodiments, contours of a room may be identified usinggeometric analysis. As described, geometric analysis may include, forexample, an interrogation of a BIM, CAD, PDF, image or any 2D floor plancontaining geometric entities such as lines, polylines, arcs circles orvectors. By way of example, FIG. 14A depicts a schematic illustration ofan exemplary floor plan 1401.

Disclosed embodiments may include receiving a selection of at least onefunctional requirement or equipment specification associated with theroom. An equipment specification may otherwise be referred to as atechnical specification. A selection may be received via a userinterface. A user may select a functional requirement or equipmentspecification from among a list of options, for example. Additionally,or alternatively, a selection may be made automatically by a systembased on learned associations between a room and a functionalrequirement or an equipment specification. As an example, the system mayidentify an equipment symbol using image analysis or semantic analysis,and select a known equipment specification associated with that symbol.In some embodiments, a functional requirement may be selected based on arule, as described in various embodiments throughout the presentdisclosure. For example, a rule may be used to apply functionalrequirement for sensor coverage to all rooms on level 3, or apply afunctional requirement for access control on all doors leading to asecure area.

In some embodiments a selected equipment specification may include anequipment placement location, an equipment model, an equipmentclassification, a customized setting, a wiring diagram, an equipmentmounting height, an equipment orientation, an equipment sensor type, alux level, an energy consumption, a heating or cooling capacity, adimension, a detection range, a resolution, an equipment setting, or anyother equipment parameter and combinations thereof. For example, aselected equipment specification may include equipment orientationinformation that signifies a direction a component of the equipmentfaces. Orientation may include horizontal and/or vertical rotation, anabsolute direction vector, yaw pitch and roll, or any other type ofnotation used to define angles in space.

As yet another example, an equipment specification may include lux, aunit of measurement of light level intensity, which a may also bereferred to as “illuminance” or “illumination”. A measurement of 1 luxmay be equal to the illumination of a one meter square surface that isone meter away from a single candle. In the embodiments, lux levels maybe used in simulations to evaluate the amount of light on a givensurface. A work table, for example, may have a requirement to receive300 to 1000 lux because lower levels may be too dark to work, whilehigher levels may lead to excessive glare. Accordingly, functionalrequirements may specify a lux level, and a simulation may be evaluatedon the ability of a selected piece of equipment to conform to aspecified lux level.

Other equipment specifications include energy consumption, which can beexpressed in watts, kilo watts, kilo watt hours, volt amperes, or otherunits. Further, equipment specifications may include heating capacity,cooling capacity, air flow, ventilation and/or intensity in of an HVACsystem. Such properties of an HVAC system may be specified in Britishthermal units, cubic feet per minute, fan speed, steps (cooling power 1,2, 3, etc.), or a targeted, preferred temperature (heat/cool the room to24 deg C.). As yet an additional example, an equipment specification mayinclude a detection range of a sensor. This may refer to distances fromwhich the sensor can sense a phenomenon within acceptable performancethresholds, and a range may include a lower or upper bound (e.g., aminimum or maximum). The detection range of a camera, for example, maybe the range in which a camera can take an image at a certain pixeldensity. The range of a motion detector may be the distance within whichit can reliably sense motion. In some cases, an equipment specificationmay include a resolution of a television, computer monitor, or otherdisplay device and may be the number of distinct pixels in eachdimension that can be displayed (i.e., a “display resolution”).Resolution may be expressed as a width and height in pixels. Forexample, 1024×768 may indicate a width of 1024 pixels and a height of768 pixels.

An equipment specification may include a dimension that describes adistance measurement of distance between points in space (e.g., betweentwo points in a floor plan). A dimension may be a height, expressed, forexample as a distance from a floor. A dimension may be an X or Ydimension, in which case it may signify a distance from an origin pointalong an orthogonal X or Y vectors, for example.

In some embodiments the at least one functional requirement may includea desired equipment placement location within a floor plan. An equipmentplacement location may be specified as X,Y coordinates and may alsoinclude Z or height information related to the reference point. In somecases, an equipment placement location may include horizontal andvertical rotation information.

In some embodiments the user may be enabled to vary the equipmentplacement location prior to performance of the generative analysis toobtain the plurality of solutions. For example, the system may receiveinput from a user to select or vary equipment placement location priorto the system performing generative analysis to obtain one or moresolutions including equipment placement locations. In addition, oralternatively, following a generative analysis, the user may be enabledto vary an equipment placement location (prior to performance of afollow on generative analysis.

Disclosed embodiments may include generatively analyzing the room toobtain a plurality of solutions that at least partially conform to theat least one functional requirement or equipment specification. Forexample, a system may generatively analyze rooms within a floor plan inorder to cycle through a plurality of solutions that at least partiallyconform to the at least one functional requirement or equipmentspecification. The plurality of solutions may include an equipmentplacement location, an equipment model, an equipment classification, acustomized setting, a wiring diagram, an equipment mounting height, anequipment orientation, an equipment sensor type, a lux level, an energyconsumption, a heating or cooling capacity, a dimension, a detectionrange, a resolution, an equipment setting, or any other equipmentparameter and/or combinations thereof.

In some embodiments generatively analyzing the room may include use ofmachine learning. Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure mayinclude using artificial intelligence (i.e., machine learning models)for identifying wall contours, rooms, windows, walls, doors, door sills,architectural features, semantic features, many other possible featuresas well as predicting energy consumption and equipment types andlocations. Machine learning models may include but are not limited toclassification models, neural network models, random forest models,Convolutional Neural Network Models, deep learning models, recurrentNeural network models, support vector machine models, a recurrent neuralnetwork model, a random forest model, a support vector machine model,ensemble prediction models, Adaptive Network Based Inference System, orany other machine learning model. Possible deep neural types of CNN'sfor computer vision and other potential tasks may vary by tasking andmay include Resnet 50 for Classification, RetinaNet and Mask RCNN forDetection- and Unet and Mask RCNN for Segmentation. Embodimentsconsistent with the present disclosure may include structured datamodels such as, for example, boosting algorithms (e.g XGBoost), standardneural networks, and random forest models.

More generally, machine learning may include training a model to performa task, the training including providing example training data to themodel and iteratively optimizing model parameters until trainingcriteria are satisfied. For example, a model may be trained to classifydata using labelled datasets. In some embodiments, a model may betrained to use training input data to produce an output that closelymatches training output data. Model training may include hyperparametertuning, sizing of mini-batches, regularization and changes in networkarchitectures. It should be understood that systems and methodscontemplated herein include using available machine learning platformsand/or libraries to train and/or manage models (e.g., TENSORFLOW,PYTHON, MATLAB, KERAS, MICROSOFT COGNITIVE TOOLKIT, and/or any othermachine learning platform). In some embodiments, training of machinelearning models may be supervised and/or unsupervised. Training data maytake many forms including, for example, the annotation of elementsincluding but not limited to various architectural features (e.g. doors,door sills, windows, walls, rooms, etc.) and equipment (e.g. sensors,furniture, cabinetry, lighting fixtures, HVAC ducting, etc.)

During model training, a plurality of floor plans may be annotated indifferent ways to allow multi-type deep learning training and otherpossible artificial intelligence training techniques. Such annotationsmay be stored as CSV, JSON, masks, or other file types. As illustrativeexamples, annotations may include data denoting geometric objects suchas boxes, oriented boxes, or polygons that identify or demarcatefeatures of interest in a plurality of floor plans. These objects may begenerated manually, for example, by drawing them over the image orautomatically using heuristic, geometric or statistic algorithms, orgenerated or identified using other suitable techniques. Annotations maybe used for training a model to perform a variety of tasks, includingdetection, segmentation, or classification tasks. More generally,annotations may assist in the training of any machine learning algorithmto perform a computer vision task or other artificial intelligencetasks. Annotation may also be applied when using statistical algorithms.

In some embodiments, training images may be cleaned by removing text,redundant features, or other elements. For example, when performingsmall object detection (e.g., detection of doors or door sills), a floorplan may be cropped into a size (e.g., 1000×1000 pixels) and afterwardsrecomposed and used with non-maximum suppression. Floor plans may beresized (e.g., resized to 1024×1024 or 512-512) before inputting to theartificial intelligence model for detection of larger objects, such aswalls or room.

Annotated floor plans may be divided into training and validation sets.For detecting architectural features in the floor plans and predictingfeatures, various deep learning models may be used including thefollowing non-limiting illustrative examples. RetinaNet may be usedbased on the Resnet classification network. In another example, todetect door sill placement within a door, a classification deep neuralnetwork may be used such as Resnet. For segmentation of walls and rooms,which may be a base of a multi-purpose network, UNET may be employed,which includes encoder-decoder architecture to reconstruct semanticsegmentation on top of the floor plan image.

Disclosed embodiments may include training deep learning networks on aspecialized cloud system with an industrial GPU or with a variety ofother types of machines. As an illustrative example, a trained deeplearning model may be post-processed with computer visions algorithms.Such algorithms may include RANSAC, Hough lines, connected componentsalgorithms, or other models suitable for computer vision.

In some embodiments the plurality of solutions may include an equipmentmodel. An equipment model may include an identifier such as a numericidentifier, a textual identifier, a graphical identifier, or any otherindication of a specific equipment model.

In some embodiments the plurality of solutions may include an equipmentclassification. Equipment Classification may include a textual and/ornumeric identification to classify a piece of equipment based on itscharacteristics and/or technical specification (e.g. 1332ABB relates toall electrical circuit breakers). Additionally, or alternatively, anequipment classification may include an international standard such asOmniClass, MasterFormat Uniclass, IFC or International HarmonizedTarrif, Tax Code, etc. Additionally, or alternatively, an equipmentclassification may include a unique classification defined by a userand/or manufacturer and/or pre-loaded in the system.

In some embodiments the plurality of solutions may include a customizedsetting of equipment. A customized setting for equipment may include,for example, programming a computerized component of equipment in amanner that differs from default factory settings. This programming mayinclude setting an IP address, setting a KNX address, or selecting anaddressable fire alarm address or any other address suitable for asystem standard for building automation. Additional examples ofprogramming a component may include modifying device settings, modifyingsystem parameters, uploading software or firmware, setting a displaylight (e.g., an LED color or status), changing a aperture, changing afield of view, selecting a frequency, selecting a power level, or anyother change to a configuration of a computerized component ofequipment.

In some cases, customizing an equipment setting may include establishingor changing a physical component of a piece of equipment. For example,it may include setting an orientation, rotation, and/or tilt of a lensin a CCTV camera in a manner that differs from its default factorysetting. Customization may involve setting a voltage, a fuse, a powersupply, a switch, or other electrical component.

Still other examples of customized setting of equipment may involvecombining one or more pieces of equipment, each with their own separateorder codes, configured to be fabricated or delivered inside a commonchassis, housing, rack, or enclosure. By way of example, a customizedsetting may include configuring an electrical panel that includes anenclosure to be delivered as a single panel to a project. The enclosuremay include circuit breakers, fuses, terminal locks, contactors, orother electronic hardware. A customized setting may involve combiningprotection devices to a lighting switch delivered with a backbox andcover plate, for example. More generally, a customized setting mayinclude combining any primary and/or auxiliary equipment.

Consistent with the present disclosure, a customized setting may includecustomizing physical properties of one or pieces of equipment. Forexample, it may include a customized color, dimension, construction,door swing direction, or other feature of equipment's appearance orperformance.

Customizing an equipment setting may involve generating a custom ordercode for ordering the customized equipment from a vendor ormanufacturer. For example, customization may include specifying anoptional or separately ordered accessory or auxiliary equipment. Theaccessary may include, for example, a peripheral, a lens, a maskinglens, a breaker, a cover plate, a fuse, a cable, a mount or module witha piece of equipment, or other component that attaches to or enablesperformance of a piece of equipment.

In some embodiments the plurality of solutions may include wiringdiagrams. A wiring diagram, in this context, may be optimized to includethe shortest paths between points on the floor plan, or the shortestoverall wire usage in the floor plan or a sub-part thereof. Generatingwiring diagram may involving calculating paths. In some embodiments,points representing equipment and a terminal panel may be the ends of apath. To generate wiring diagrams, a calculation may be powered by agraph traversal algorithm such as Djikstra or BFS or any other relevantalgorithm. The calculation may be based on architectural features,including corridors or walls. Embodiment may include using architecturalfeatures of the floor plan as weighting in a graph traversal algorithm.

Wiring diagrams included in solutions may be dynamic such that, when onepiece of equipment is moved in the floor plan, at least some part of thecalculation may be rerun to regenerate the diagram according to themodified data. Additionally, or alternatively, a calculation may beregenerated in response to a specific user request or as part of anautomatic process configured to detect when changes are made to theequipment placement which require recalculation.

A wiring diagram may be generated using one of several optionaltypologies. In this context, typology signifies the type of routeconnecting between the devices. A home run typology is one in whichevery piece of equipment finds the shortest path to the panel (the “headend” or “home run”) and uses that as its wiring route regardless of thepaths connecting other pieces of equipment. As another example, a“travelling salesman” typology may connect all devices in a single path,where every device is connected to one device before and one after it inthe path. A “maximal loop” typology may connect devices using a“travelling salesman” approach until a certain maximal amount of devicesis reached, where the wiring will return to the terminal point. Theforegoing exemplary typologies are not limiting on the embodiments,which include still other typologies for routing wires through a floorplan.

In some embodiments generatively analyzing the room may includegenerating a series of simulations. For example, generatively analyzingtechnical specifications may include running some combination of aweighted cost function, image analysis, geometric analysis, semanticanalysis, floor plan analysis, topology analysis, BIM analysis, rulebased design, statistical analysis, optimization, or any other dataanalysis as disclosed herein. The series of simulations may be runiteratively until a solution conforms to one or more functionalrequirements, for example. Simulations may be associated with scoresreflecting a degree of conformance to functional requirements, andgenerative analysis may be performed until a simulation score reaches apredetermined threshold. The series of simulation may be generated basedon user input indicating a number of simulations, a desired simulationperformance score, or other parameter of the simulations. In someembodiments, user input may terminate an ongoing series of simulations.A generative analysis may not always include an optimization and mayinclude a calculation or more concrete analysis, as described above. Insome embodiments the generative analysis may apply a rule-basedfunctional requirement for selecting and placing equipment, as describedthroughout the present disclosure. For example, the generative analysismay include placing a chair next to all desks or workstations corridor,inserting a door in all openings of a certain size, placing a piece ofequipment where there is at least a certain tolerance of space (e.g. 10cm on either of the equipment), placing a valve adjacent to all fan-coilunits, spacing equipment at specified distances with a specifiedoverlap, or various other forms of analysis that may be defined by afunctional requirement. Various other details regarding rules aredescribed throughout the present disclosure. Disclosed embodiments mayinclude receiving a selection of a solution from the plurality ofsolutions, wherein the selected solution includes an equipment placementlocation. The selection may be based on user input or selectedautomatically by a system based on, for example, a performance score ofa solution. Further, the selected solution may include an equipmentplacement location determined by the system. In some embodiments,instructions to vary an equipment location may be received. A locationcan be varied by modifying its location within a room along the X,Yand/or Z coordinates or any combination thereof. An equipment locationmay be varied, for example, in reference to a coordinate system of floorplan, a coordinate system of the respective rooms, a real-wordcoordinate system, or any other suitable representation of a placementlocation as described throughout the present disclosure. A location maybe, for example, modified in 2D or 3D. In some embodiments, varying alocation may also refer to modifying equipment mounting height,orientation, or directionality. In this context, embodiments may includereceiving an instruction to vary a parameter associated with equipmentin a selected solution. A parameter may include a technicalspecification or a setting of equipment. Such instructions may bereceived from a user, triggered automatically by the system, triggeredbased on criterion in a rule-based design system, or received from anyother element of a system. Parameters associated with the equipment in asolution may include an equipment placement location, an equipmentmodel, an equipment classification, a customized setting, a wiringdiagram, an equipment mounting height, an equipment orientation, anequipment sensor type, a lux level, an energy consumption, a heating orcooling capacity, a dimension, a detection range, a resolution, anequipment setting, or any other equipment parameter and combinationsthereof. Receiving instruction to vary parameters associated with theequipment in a solution allows for customization of a solution based onuser preferences while additionally providing improvements inefficiency, speed, accuracy, level of detail, design capabilities, andproject scale when selecting equipment for use in buildings. In someembodiments the system may receive instructions to vary two or moreequipment parameters.

In some embodiments receiving instructions to vary the equipmentplacement location may include receiving instructions to removeequipment. Removal may include deleting equipment from a floor plan. Forexample, the system may receive instructions to remove a piece, set, orgroup of equipment from a solution. Additionally, or alternatively, thesystem may receive instructions to remove equipment based on a parameterassociated with the equipment.

Consistent with the present disclosure, receiving instructions to varythe equipment placement location may include receiving instructions toadd equipment. Adding equipment may include adding a representation ofequipment on a floor plan. The system may receive instructions to add apiece, set, or group of equipment to a solution. Additionally oralternatively, the system may receiving instructions to add equipmentbased on a parameter associated with the equipment.

In some embodiments receiving instructions to vary the equipmentplacement location may include receiving instructions to add at leastone accessory. For example, the system may receive instructions to addone or more accessories to a solution. An accessory (i.e., auxiliaryequipment) may include a piece of electronic, mechanic or any other typeof hardware that serves in a role in a making a system devised of one ormore primary pieces of equipment functional or at least partiallyfunctional. An accessory may attach to or enable performance of aprimary piece of equipment.

For example, the auxiliary equipment for a video camera may include alens, cables, screws, mounting hardware, a patch panel, a videorecorder, a network switch, a rack, and/or a UPS. As another example,the auxiliary equipment for a light fixture may include cables, a lightswitch, electrical breakers and an electrical panel board. Otherexamples of accessories include electrical enclosure with electricalcircuit breakers; a power supply controller; a controller of an accesscontrol reader; a mount of a smoke detector; a mount for a TV or otherfurniture item; a handle; a bulb for a light fixture; an HDMI cable; ora valve for an AC unit. The relationship between primary and auxiliaryequipment may be physical (e.g. a fuse may be inside a piece ofequipment) or related/logical (e.g. an access reader may be paired witha controller via a cable connection).

In some embodiments receiving instructions to vary the equipmentplacement location may include receiving instructions to lock a manuallymodified parameter associated with at least one piece of equipment. Forexample, the system may receive instructions to lock a parameter uponreceiving instructions to vary the parameter associated with theequipment in a solution. Examples of the many types of parameters thatmay locked include location, mounting height, orientation,directionality, and rotation. Locking a parameter may include preventingthe system from modifying the parameter in a subsequent generativeanalysis. This would prevent user input from being removed, ignored, orotherwise modified by the system.

Disclosed embodiments may include generatively analyzing a room toupdate the selected solution based on the instructions to vary theequipment placement location. For example, a system may generativelyanalyze rooms as disclosed herein within a floor plan in order to updatea selected solution based on the instructions received and to vary theequipment placement location or other parameter associated with at leaston piece of equipment.

Disclosed embodiments may include displaying the updated solution. Forexample, the system may display of a graphical depiction of equipmentlocation or type which are the result of the generative analysisprocess. The depiction may be drawn on top of the input floor plan. Itmay contain textual information regarding the model, placement, price,or parameters (a material list). The display may be supplemented by arepresentation of the solution in one of many forms. For example, agraphical display may include a text document, a chart or table, animage, a vector image file, a vector architectural file, or a BIM model.Files included in a display may be in a variety of formats, includingWord™, Excel™, PDF, .JPG, .PNG, .DWG, .RVT or .IFC. In some embodiments,a graphical display of an solution may be based on a database or indexcontaining information such as placement information and/or technicalspecifications. Information sufficient to generate the graphical displaymay be electronically transmitted to, for example, an enterpriseresource planning system, a customer relationship management system,programming software, or other hardware or software component.Additionally or alternatively, an output may be displayed via agraphical user interface such as on a computer screen. The system maydisplay the plurality of solutions, the updated solution, or both.

In some embodiments displaying may include a performance visualization.In further embodiments the performance visualization may beautomatically updated based on instructions to vary an equipmentlocation. A performance visualization may include a numeric identifier,a textual identifier, a graphical identifier, a 3D model, or any othervisual representation of equipment and its associated function. A 3Dmodel may be a three dimensional (e.g., length, wide, and height)representation of a solution that may be visualized on the display of acomputer or hologram so that a user can visually interact with andunderstand the makeup of the space. This may be achieved using pixels,vectors, lines, and colored areas.

In some embodiments the at least one processor may be further configuredto rate the plurality of solutions and to present an associated ratingto a user. Rating the plurality of solutions may include calculating,assigning, or otherwise determining a metric for a solution, multiplesolutions, or a portion of a solution. A metric may include a score, apercentage (such as a percentage of coverage), or any representationdescribing the solution, multiple solutions, or portion of a solution.For example, the system may rate a solution to determine Wi-Fi coveragein a floor plan and describe the rating as a percentage of total squarefeet of the floor plan covered by Wi-Fi.

Disclosed embodiments may include enabling the user to copy one piece ofequipment manually modified from the updated solution. For example, thesystem may receive input modifying a parameter associated with a pieceof equipment and enable the piece of equipment and associated parametersto be saved or copied. The system may enable saving or copying of apiece of equipment with the associated parameters, of the equipmentalone, or of the associated parameters alone. Additionally, oralternatively, the system may enable a user to apply a manually modifiedparameter of a first piece of equipment to a second piece of equipment.For example, the system may enable a piece of equipment and associatedparameters that has been saved or copied to be replicated or pastedelsewhere in the solution or in another solution. The system may enablereplicating or pasting of a piece of equipment with the associatedparameters, of the equipment alone, or of the associated parametersalone.

In some embodiments, identifying room contours and/or semanticenrichment and/or the generative analyzing process may be computed on acloud-based servers or interface or retrieved from a cloud-basedinterface. A cloud-based interface may be any user interface allowing auser to download, upload, or otherwise interact with data stored inremote servers. In some embodiments, the remote servers may be managedby a hosting company, such as IBM® Cloud, Amazon® Web Services, orsimilar online storage platforms. More generally, cloud-based may referto applications, services, or resources made available to users ondemand via the internet from a cloud computing provider's servers.Cloud-based computing can increase capacity, enhance functionality, oradd additional services on demand at reduced infrastructure and laborcosts. Cloud based services may be used to allow complex,computationally expensive algorithms to be accessed by users directlythrough their browsers without the need to download software to theirpersonal computers. In some embodiments, machine learning models such asone or more ResNet models trained to classify architectural features orclassifications model such as XGBoost trained to predict room functions,may be stored, for example, in cloud based file hosting services (suchas Amazon S3, Azure Blob storage, Google cloud storage, DigitalOceanspaces, etc). The model, for example, may be fetched and loaded intomemory (RAM) by microservices during their initialization. Once loadedinto RAM, the microservices may able to receive requests in the form ofmessages (such as synchronous HTTP messages; asynchronous messages viamessage broking software/services such as Amazon SQS, RabbitMQ, KafkaMQ,ZeroMQ; persistent connection such as websockets or raw TCP sockets, orraw non-persistent packets via the UDP protocol, etc.). Once a requestis received, the service may, for example, invoke the model with thepayload of the message (such as bitmaps, text, or other appropriate datastructures the model was trained with), and receives a result (with adata structure that is based on the type of model) in return. Theservice then may respond, for example, with the generated machinelearning model result. In some embodiments, a series of simulations oran optimization process may be run on the cloud. A Cloud basedoptimization may be, for example, based on orchestration of one or manymicroservices that execute an algorithm. For example, an orchestratingservice may receive the locations of resources, or the actual resourcesin either raw binary or human-readable data structure, as well as anyother parameters and metadata that may be required for the book keeping(e.g. in a database, in-memory cache service, or file storage services).The orchestrating service then may, for example, preprocess theresources and parameters, and generate permutations that may bedispatched (by either synchronous or asynchronous messaging schemes,often depending on the expected runtime duration of the algorithm) toworker microservices that may be responsible for the actual execution ofthe optimization algorithm. There may also be additional intermediatesteps, for example, between the main algorithm orchestrator and theworker microservices. Upon completion of the optimization algorithm, themicroservices may dispatch, for example, a mirroring message thatsignifies the completion of the algorithm. Artifacts and intermediateresults may be kept in in-memory caching services (such as Redis) or infile storage services (such as Amazon S3) for example. The orchestratoror the intermediate orchestrating services may then, for example,postprocess the results (and any of the aforementioned intermediateartifacts and results of the process) of the optimization algorithm, andmay choose, for example, to dispatch additional requests based on thenature and performance of the results. After all expected results arereceived in the algorithm orchestrator, a message may dispatched back,for example, notifying the optimization process is complete, accompaniedby either the results (or the locations of the results in file storageservices/databases), as well as any other relevant artifacts andintermediate results generated in the process.

By way of example, FIGS. 14A through 15E depict a method for updating asolution. FIG. 14A depicts a schematic illustration of an exemplaryfloor plan 1401. The floor plan 1401 may be received in any of the waysdescribed earlier. FIG. 14B depicts exemplary user inputs 1403 and 1407to the floor plan. User inputs may be received via a keyboard, a touchscreen, a mouse, a trackpad, or other suitable means for enteringinformation into a computerized system. The user inputs may includefunctional requirements 1405 and 1409 associated with respective rooms,as indicated by shading in FIG. 14B. After a functional requirementinput, a user may select a piece of equipment or a technicalspecification for association with the respective rooms, and may touch adisplay at locations 1403 and 1407 to indicate suggested locations for apiece of equipment. Alternatively, the equipment specifications may bechosen from a pick list presented on a display, omitting a desiredlocation, which can be calculated by the system as part of a generativeanalysis. In yet another embodiment, after the functional requirementsare selected, the user may indicate the general spaces to which thoserequirements should be applied. In some embodiments, the room contoursmay have been identified through the processing described above whichenables a user to apply the functional requirements to the entireboundaries of the room without the need to manually define the roomboundaries. This can occur by touching or otherwise selecting the spacesthrough a touch (1403, 1407), a click, or a pick. In doing so, an entirebounded area may be identified for application of functionalrequirements. Shading or colorization may be applied to the selectedarea to confirm that the functional requirements are applied to thatarea. A key may be displayed to the user indicating the functionalrequirements that conform to the colorization or shading.

Continuing the example, FIG. 14C depicts a graphical representation ofan exemplary solution as a result of a generative analysis. As shown,the solution indicates the placement of sensor 1413, sensor 1417, andsensor 1423. Further, the solution may include a detection range 1415,1419, and 1425 associated with sensors 1413, 1417, and 1423,respectively. The solution may also include specification details 1411,1421, and 1427 associated with respective sensors 1413, 1417, and 1423.Specification details may include equipment placement location expressedin (X, Y, Z) coordinates, an equipment model, and equipment orientationexpress in vertical and horizontal rotation (in degrees), or any otherrelevant detail depending on the specific use case.

A user may desire to update the solution of FIG. 14C. Accordingly, FIG.14D depicts exemplary user input 1429 varying the equipment location ofa sensor. User input 1429 depicts a user selecting sensor 1417 andchanging the location of sensor 1417 to a new location as indicated byuser input 1431. Although depicted by way of example as an input on atouch screen, the location may be varied in other ways such as by dragand drop or point and click with a mouse.

Following instructions to vary an equipment location, the system maygenerate an updated solution. As with the original solution, the updatedsolution may occur through generative analysis. The updated solution maydiffer from the user's instructions in that one or more of the desiredequipment locations, specified equipment, or specified setting may vary.The user may be provided with a series of options illustrating how thefunctional requirements can be more closely met if another piece ofequipment is chosen, another location is chosen, and/or another settingis selected.

FIG. 14E depicts an exemplary updated solution as a result of generativeanalysis using the updated placement of sensor 1417 as provided by userinput. The updated solution may include specification details 1421consistent with the updated position.

By way of example, FIGS. 15A through 15C depict another exemplary methodfor updating a solution. Based on a received floor plan and receivedfunctional requirements such as described earlier in connection withFIGS. 14A and 14B, and based on instructions to vary an equipmentlocation such as described earlier in connection with FIG. 14D, thesystem may generate solutions. FIG. 15A may represent an originalsolution and FIG. 15B may represent an updated solution following updateinstructions.

More specifically, the delta between FIGS. 15A and 15B represents anexemplary updated solution. Initially, as reflected in FIG. 15A,generative analysis placed sensors 1511, 1517, and 1521. Such a solutionmay include a depiction of coverage area 1513, coverage area 1519, andcoverage area 1523 associated with sensor 1511, sensor 1517, and sensor1521, respectively. Further, the solution may include a rating of thesolution 1515, 1525 for each room expressed in a coverage percentage.

A user may update the solution, as discussed earlier in connection withFIG. 14D. Based on the instructions, the system may update the solution.FIG. 15B depicts an exemplary updated solution as a result of generativeanalysis indicating the updated placement of sensor 1517 and providingspecification details 1525 for the room consistent with the updatedposition.

By way of example, FIGS. 16A-C depict another exemplary method forupdating a solution. FIG. 16A depicts an exemplary solution as a resultof generative analysis indicating the equipment model and focal length1615 of camera 1611, the equipment model and focal length 1621 of camera1617, and the equipment model and focal length 1627 of camera 1623. Thesolution may include a depiction of coverage area 1613, coverage area1619, and coverage area 1625 associated with camera 1611, camera 1617,and camera 1623, respectively. FIG. 16B depicts exemplary user input1629 varying equipment model for camera 1617 and user input 1631 varyingequipment model for camera 1623. FIG. 16C depicts an exemplary updatedsolution as a result of generative analysis indicating the updatedequipment model and focal length 1621 of camera 1617 and the updatedequipment model and focal length 1627 of camera 1623.

By way of example, FIGS. 17A-C depict another exemplary method forupdating a solution. FIG. 17A depicts an initial generative solution.The solution may include a detection range 1713, 1719, and 1725associated with sensors 1711, 1717, and 1723, respectively. The solutionmay further include specification details 1715, 1721, and 1727associated with sensor 1711, sensor 1717, and sensor 1723, respectively.Specification details 1715, 1721, and 1727 may include equipmentplacement location expressed in (X, Y, Z) coordinates, an equipmentmodel, and equipment orientation express in vertical and horizontalrotation (in degrees). FIG. 17B illustrates input 1729 by a userchanging the mounting height (Z position) of equipment 1717 placed bythe initial generative analysis. FIG. 17C depicts an exemplary updatedsolution as a result of generative analysis indicating the updatedplacement of sensor 1717 and providing updated specification details1721 consistent with the updated mounting height (Z position).

By way of another example, FIGS. 18A through 18C depict anotherexemplary method for updating a solution. FIG. 18A depicts an exemplarysolution as a result of generative analysis indicating the placement ofcamera 1811, camera 1817, and camera 1821. The solution may include adepiction of coverage area 1813, coverage area 1819, and coverage area1823 associated with camera 1811, camera 1817, and camera 1821,respectively. The solution may include a rating of the solution 1815,1825 for each room expressed in a coverage percentage. FIG. 18B depictsexemplary user input 1827 varying the orientation of camera 1817. Userinput 1827 depicts a user selecting camera 1817 and changing theorientation of camera 1817. FIG. 18C depicts an exemplary updatedsolution as a result of an updated generative analysis reflecting theupdated orientation of camera 1817 and providing updated specificationdetails 1825 for the room consistent with the updated orientation.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for selecting equipmentfor use in buildings, consistent with disclosed embodiments. The processmay be performed by at least one processor. In some embodiments theprocess is not necessarily limited to the steps illustrated and any ofthe various embodiments described herein may be included in or excludedfrom the process.

At step 1901, the process may include receiving a floor plan demarcatingcontours of a room. As discussed herein, a floor plan may be received inany medium containing a representation of a floor plan. For example, afloor plan may be received as a digital, textual, hand drawn, hard copy,photographic, or any other representation of a floor plan capable ofbeing stored in a data structure.

At step 1903, as discussed previously, the process may include receivinga selection of at least one functional requirement or equipmentspecification associated with the room.

At step 1905, the process may include generatively analyzing the room toobtain a plurality of solutions that at least partially conform to theat least one functional requirement or equipment specification. Thegenerative analysis may consider a functional requirement or equipmentspecification, as discussed earlier. As described here, generativeanalysis may include, for example, image analysis, geometric analysis,or semantic enrichment. Generative analysis may further include machinelearning.

At step 1907, the process may include receiving a solution. The solutionmay be an optimized solution. An optimized solution may be one designedto maximize compliance with functional specifications, minimize cost,minimize labor hours, minimize total wire usage, or maximize or minimizeany other design constraint. Alternatively, the solution may be one thatbalances multiple factors and does not necessarily optimize any onefactor or constraint. Multiple solutions may be provided along with anindication of the extent to which each solution complies with aparticular design constraint. (E.g., one solution might be lowest cost;another solution might be maximal compliance with functionalspecifications; etc.). Each solution may be accompanied by an indicationof an extent of compliance with a design constraint (E.g., Solution 1 is15% higher cost than Solution 2, but is 10% more compliant withfunctional specifications.) Rules might set defining thresholds forselections of a preferred solution. (E.g., if functional requirementsare within 5% of specifications, select lowest cost option.).Alternatively, or additionally, the user may be provided with theability to override the system's preferred solution. At step 1909, theprocess may include receiving instructions to vary equipment location.The instructions may be received via a user interface. By way of exampleonly, receiving instructions to vary equipment locations may include anyof the examples discussed in connection with FIGS. 14D, 16B, 17B, 18B,or any other examples consistent with disclosed embodiments.

At step 1911, the process may include generatively analyzing the room toupdate the selected solution based on the instructions to vary theequipment placement location, as discussed earlier.

At step 1913, the process may include displaying the updated solution.Displaying the solution may include generating and displaying agraphical representation of a floor plan that includes equipmentplacement locations, equipment technical specifications, a solutionperformance score, or other information related to the solution.Alternatively, displaying the updated solution may include displayinginformation in non-graphical form or in a different graphical form.

As previously discussed, the present disclosure relates to a method anda system for selecting equipment for use in buildings, as well as anon-transitory computer-readable medium that may include instructionsthat, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least oneprocessor to execute operations enabling selection of equipment for usein buildings.

In accordance with the present disclosure, a structural design system,method, and/or computer readable medium may be provided forautomatically positioning primary equipment and auxiliary equipment in afloor plan. For ease of discussion, a system is described below, withthe understanding that aspects of the system apply equally to methods,devices, and computer readable media. For example, some aspects of sucha system may occur electronically over a network that is either wired,wireless, or both. Other aspects of such a system may occur usingnon-electronic means. In a broadest sense, the system is not limited toparticular physical and/or electronic instrumentalities, but rather maybe accomplished using many differing instrumentalities.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, a system may include at least oneprocessor configured to access a floor plan demarcating a plurality ofrooms. Demarcations may include information indicating the location ofone or more rooms in a plan in relation to the rest of the plan.Generally, a room may include any fully or partially enclosed section ofa building, the boundaries of the enclosed section (sometimes referredto as contours) of the room, the openings associated with the room'sborders, equipment, or architectural features contained within theenclosed section.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the at least one processor may beconfigured to assign functional requirements to each of a plurality ofrooms. A functional requirement may include a description of performanceparameters expected from a system, as discussed in greater detailherein. Assigning functional requirements to each of the plurality ofrooms may include selecting one or more functional requirements forapplication. This selection process may repeat for a plurality of rooms.For example, assigning functional requirements to each of the pluralityof rooms may include presenting an interface enabling a user to selectand assign functional requirements on a room-by-room basis. Assigning afunctional requirement to a room may include storing informationindicating the assignment in a data structure. In some aspect, assigningmay include updating a floor plan with data indicating an associationbetween a functional requirement and a room. Further, a user may beenabled to interact with a representation of a room in a floor plan toretrieve or display information related to a functional requirementassigned to a room.

In this context, an interface may allow a user to select one or moreelements on the screen. Further, an interface may allow a user to applycertain operations to those elements, to add, edit, and/or deleteelements, and/or to interact with the elements in any way. Selecting andassigning functional requirements may include allowing a user toidentify and attach one or more appropriate functional requirements to aroom, and embodiments may include repeating this process for a pluralityof rooms, one room at a time.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the at least one processor may beconfigured to access at least one data structure containing technicalspecifications for primary equipment and auxiliary equipment, andfurther containing locations of primary equipment and compatibilityrules associating primary and auxiliary equipment. As disclosed, atleast one data structure may refer to any type of data stored in aprocessor in an organized, searchable manner. Technical specificationsmay include but are not limited to one or more of an equipmentspecification, a model identifier, or any technical characteristicdescribing one or more properties of a piece of equipment. Locations mayinclude information regarding the position of a piece of equipmentwithin a floor plan.

Compatibility rules may be rules designed to ascertain the compatibilitybetween two pieces of equipment. For example, if one piece of equipmentuses a data cable of type A, and the other of type B, and A and B arenon-interchangeable, a compatibility rule would prevent using the twopieces of equipment together without an interface that permits theirconnection. Compatibility rules may be positive-“equipment W iscompatible with all equipment which is X;” negative-“equipment Y is notcompatible with any equipment which is Z;” and/or composite- “equipmentZ is compatible with any equipment which is X but not Y.” Moregenerally, compatibility rules may contain any Boolean logicalexpression. Further, compatibility rules may require calculations,thresholding, or other types of mathematical analysis. For example, acompatibility rule may be related a cable length, signal strength, fieldof view, zoom, focus, or other measurable property of equipment.Compatibility rules may constrain power supplies, data cable types, datatransfer protocols, compression formats, input and output types, and/orany of a myriad of properties of equipment. Compatibility rules mayconstrain the maximum or minimum distance between a piece of primaryequipment with a piece auxiliary equipment.

Compatibility rules may be pre-stored in one or more data structures. Adata structure containing a pre-stored compatibility rule may beorganized in a searchable manner. A data structure containing acompatibility rule may be stored in local memory, in a database, incloud storage, or other storage location. In some examples,compatibility rules may be user definable, and users may be enabled tocreate, modify, or delete compatibility rules via an interface.

Embodiments may include generatively analyzing a floor plan usingfunctional requirements and technical specifications for primaryequipment to select and position in the floor plan primary equipment toat least partially conform to the functional requirements for each ofthe plurality of rooms. As disclosed herein, a generative analysis mayinclude deriving a solution to a problem, geometric, mathematical,physical, or otherwise, may be arrived at by a computational device.Generative analysis may be performed to identify a solution thatincludes a technical specification, type, brand, model, settings,configurations, parameters, and/or placement of a piece of equipment ina way that satisfies the demands of the problem. The solution mayfulfill the functional requirement in full or in part. For example, afunctional requirement may be to cover all of a room, but a solution mayinclude a camera covering just 80% of a room, only partially conformingto the requirement.

By way of example, FIG. 20A illustrates equipment selection andplacement in floor plan 2000 based on functional requirements to provideprotect occupants from fire. Rooms and corridors of floor plan 2000include selected primary equipment represented by various symbols. Forexample, room 2002 includes led flasher 2004 and smoke detector 2006. Asshown, floor plan 2000 may include still other types of primaryequipment, such as emergency break glass 2008, toilet 2010, sink 2012.As further examples, a generative analysis may lead to selection of agroup 2020 of primary equipment, such as led flasher 2004, smokedetector 2006, emergency break glass 2008, water sprinkler 2022, heatdetector 2024, and alarm 2027.

Disclosed embodiments may include considering one or more locations ofarchitectural features within each of the plurality of rooms during agenerative analysis. Architectural features may be any part of abuilding and may include a zone, room, wall, half wall, door, window,column, stairs, handrail, beam, and/or any other permanent part of thebuilding, as discussed in greater detail herein. By consideringlocations of architectural features within each of the plurality ofrooms, embodiments may reduce or eliminate overlap in the placement ofprimary and auxiliary equipment with architectural features. In someembodiments, the material and technical characteristic of architecturalfeatures may be considered. For example, the generative analysis processmay select a different auxiliary equipment mount for a concrete wall ascompared to a gypsum wall. In some embodiments, a distance betweenprimary and auxiliary equipment and an architectural feature may becalculated. As an illustrative example, in FIG. 20A, technicalspecification for the emergency break glass 2008 may have a preferredlocation near fire exits (an architectural feature).

Based on the selection and positioning of the primary equipment in thefloor plan, embodiments may include using compatibility rules andtechnical specifications for primary equipment and auxiliary equipmentto determine whether auxiliary equipment is required for each of aplurality of rooms. For example, compatibility rules and technicalspecifications may indicate that a piece of primary equipment requires apower source, a network connection, or other accessories. Further, rulemay specify that auxiliary equipment is required based on location. Forexample, a rule may specify that a piece of primary equipment mayrequire a mount when located on a ceiling (e.g., a ceiling mount for aspeaker), while that same piece of equipment may not require a mountwhen located on a countertop. By way of example, using compatibilityrules and technical specifications for primary equipment and auxiliaryequipment to determine whether auxiliary equipment is required for eachof a plurality of rooms may include implementing processes depicted inFIG. 20B, described in greater detail elsewhere herein.

Further, embodiments may include selecting auxiliary equipment to atleast partially conform to the functional requirements of each of theplurality of rooms requiring auxiliary equipment As disclosed, this mayinclude identifying an equipment type, brand, model, settings,configurations, parameters, or placement of a piece of auxiliaryequipment in a way that satisfies the demands of the problem. Theselected auxiliary equipment may include one or more of wiring,conduits, ducts, pipes, and/or cable trays. In some embodiments,selecting the auxiliary equipment may include considering whether theselected primary equipment is located on at least one of walls orceilings. For example, wall mounts and ceiling mounts may differ for asame piece of primary equipment. For example, as illustrated in FIG.20A, auxiliary equipment 2030 may be selected based on selection orlocation of primary equipment 2020. Control panel 2032, power source2034, and door release 2036 may be selected due to technicalspecifications or locations of any of primary equipment 2020.

In some embodiments, generative analysis may include providing apreference for selecting auxiliary equipment from a manufacturer productfamily for each of a type of auxiliary equipment In this context, amanufacturer product family may include a group of related goodsproduced by the same company and/or under the same brand, and a type ofauxiliary equipment may refer to a category of similar kinds ofauxiliary equipment (e.g., a sensor type may include CCTV cameras, IRsensors, thermostats, and/or any other device which detects or measuresa physical property and records, indicates, and/or otherwise responds).By providing a preference to select auxiliary equipment from aparticular manufacturer, embodiments may result in more uniformequipment selections for large scale design and planning. Suchuniformity may lead to downstream efficiencies in ordering, shipping,installation, and it may reduce costs due to bulk discounts.

In some aspects, selecting the auxiliary equipment may include runningcalculations that consider various technical characteristics, includingnetwork bandwidth, voltage drop, cable tray dimensions, conduitdimensions, power consumption, ethernet switch port capacity,uninterruptable power supply runtime, battery backup runtime, generatorruntime, air flow, water pressure, or other equipment properties. Forexample, auxiliary equipment may be selected to provide networkbandwidth that meets data transfer needs. Auxiliary equipment may beselected based on calculations that determine an available, necessary,maximum, minimum, average and/or any other amount of network bandwidth.Calculations may be performed with various candidate auxiliaryequipment.

In some cases, auxiliary equipment may be selected to satisfy voltagedrop requirements (i.e., decrease of electrical potential along the pathof a current flowing in an electrical circuit). Calculations on voltagedrop may determine voltage drop in one or more components of a system ofthe floor plan. Such calculations may be used to select candidateauxiliary equipment for implementation in the floor plan.

Auxiliary equipment selection may be based on calculations thatdetermine cable tray dimensions (e.g., width and height for cable trays,diameter for conduits). A cable tray system may be used to supportinsulated electrical cables used for power distribution, control, and/orcommunication. Cable trays may be used as an alternative to open wiringor electrical conduit systems and are commonly used for cable managementin commercial and industrial construction. Conduits include tubes ortroughs used for protecting and routing electrical wiring in a buildingor structure. When physically constructing the wiring of a building,several parallel wires may be placed in the same cable tray or conduit.By running calculations on cable tray dimensions and/or conduitdimensions, systems and methods according to the embodiments may selectcable trays and conduits that are configured to pass all necessarywires.

Other information may factor into auxiliary equipment selection. Forexample, calculations on power consumption may determine available,necessary, maximum, minimum, average and/or any other amount of powerconsumption in a system in the floor plan. As another example,calculations involving network switch capacity (e.g., ethernet switchcapacity) may determine a maximum number of devices which may beconnected to a network. In general, a network switch may be a networkinghardware device that connects other devices on a computer network byusing packet switching to receive and forward data to the destinationdevice. Network switches may include ports that enable device connectionthrough cables. Network or Ethernet switch port capacity may refer to amaximum amount of devices which may be connected to a network orEthernet switch. Additionally or alternatively, runtime estimates may beused to select auxiliary equipment. For example, an uninterruptablepower supply (UPS), a battery backup, and a generator may include anelectrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when a mainpower source fails (i.e., a backup power supply). Generally, runtime maydescribe the length of time a backup power supply may be used in theevent of a main power source failure. Calculations on UPS, batterybackup, and generator runtime may estimate a maximum or optimal numberof devices in a floor plan that may depend on a backup power supply.

Calculations on air flow may identify the available, necessary, maximum,minimum, or average air flow in a system in the floor plan. The amountof air flowing through a duct in an HVAC system may be regulated bypressure difference and system resistance. Higher the pressuredifference increase air velocity and quantity of air that may flow fromthe duct. Pressure differences may be created by the chillers and AHUwhich generate the flow, while resistance may be a function of thelength, material, and/or dimension of the ducts.

Some embodiments include running calculations on water pressure within abuilding to establish whether a candidate piece of auxiliary equipmentfor selection may be implemented in the floor plan. Generally, pipe flowcalculations, a branch of hydraulics and fluid mechanics, may describeliquid flow within a closed conduit. Pipe flow, being confined withinthe closed conduit, may not exert direct atmospheric pressure, but mayexert hydraulic pressure on the conduit.

Embodiments may include calculating a number of inputs and outputs ofthe selected primary equipment. Building Management Systems, firealarms, access controls, and other building systems may contain avariety of components such as sensors (e.g. smoke detection, occupancyor temperature), user interfaces (light controller, thermostatcontroller, display panels, or other displays, etc.), valves (e.g.fan-coil valve), or other equipment. These pieces of equipment maycommunicate with and integrate to a system or other pieces of equipmentvia a plurality of low-current inputs types and outputs types. Examplesof the types of inputs and outputs include electrical inputs andoutputs, analog inputs and outputs, digital inputs and outputs, and avariety of communication protocol inputs and outputs such as KNX,TCP/IP, BACNET/IP, or a fire alarm address loop.

A generative analysis process may include calculating the number andtypes of inputs and outputs of primary equipment in order to determineauxiliary equipment with a sufficient number of compatible inputs andoutputs. For example, primary equipment may include two fan-coil unitseach with a 1-10 v modulating input signal to control a valve for AC,and three electrical relay inputs to control fan speed. Exemplaryprimary equipment may also include two thermostats which communicatesvia a KNX bus. Then, a selection of auxiliary equipment may include, forexample, calculating the total quantity and type of inputs and outputs(e.g., 10 v inputs, six electrical relays, and two KNX bus connections),and selecting an auxiliary piece of equipment such as HVAC actuator orcontroller which at least matches the input and output requirements ofthe primary equipment.

In some aspects, embodiments may include positioning selected auxiliaryequipment in a floor plan. Positioning may be automatic. For example, agenerative analysis may include optimizing placement of a piece ofauxiliary equipment in a way that satisfies the demands of the problem,as discussed in greater detail herein. Alternatively or additionally,positions of selected auxiliary equipment may be determined according toa user definable rule. A user definable rule may refer to any logicalconstruct, including Boolean expressions and mathematical calculations.

Embodiments may include receiving technical specification assignmentsfor the plurality of rooms and/or a plurality of functional requirementassignments for the plurality of rooms. Receiving assignments oftechnical specifications or functional requirements may includereceiving data from an external source via a network transmission orretrieving data from memory (e.g., local memory, cloud storage). Forpurposes of this disclosure, such an assignment may include associatingtechnical specifications or functional requirements with respectiverooms in a data structure. Technical specifications may be assigned torooms by a user using, for example, a user interface In some casesreceived technical specifications may be used to select auxiliaryequipment.

Users may be permitted to influence primary and auxiliary equipmentselection. For example, embodiments may permit a user to specify primaryequipment and/or primary equipment locations for a generative analysis.Permitting a user to specify primary equipment for the generativeanalysis may include enabling (e.g., via an interface) the user toselect primary equipment from a list, to input identifiers of primaryequipment, or to perform other actions sufficient to identify and selectprimary equipment. Further, specifying primary equipment locations mayinclude setting the location of one or more pieces of primary equipmentbefore, during, and/or after the generative analysis takes place (e.g.,updating a location). In some instances, embodiments may includeautomatically identifying auxiliary equipment unspecified by the user.For example, a processor may find, select, place, and/or in any otherway interact with auxiliary equipment which has not been inputted by theuser. In this way, embodiments may automatically supplement userselections to generate comprehensive auxiliary equipment selections forfloor plan. The user may be permitted to define areas where primary orauxiliary equipment may be located, or to define areas of exclusionwhere such equipment location is not preferred. Such definitions mayoccur, for example, through a user interface that enables users to blockareas. Similarly, the interface may permit users to define equipmentplacement rules and migrate those rules across rooms in a floor plan.

Some embodiments may include generating technical specifications of theauxiliary equipment based on the selected primary equipment and thecompatibility rules. Further, auxiliary equipment selection may changewhen primary equipment selections change after an initial generativeanalysis. As an example, embodiments consistent with the presentdisclosure may include receiving a request to alter a technicalspecification of selected primary equipment for at least one of aplurality of rooms. A request to alter technical specifications mayinclude an instruction to change a technical specification of selectedprimary equipment after generative analysis. Further, a technicalspecification of a selected primary equipment may be updated for atleast one of a plurality of rooms based on a request to alter atechnical specifications. For example, the technical specification ofthe selected primary equipment may change to match the technicalspecification modifications made in a request. Then, embodiments mayinclude updating, based on the update of the selected primary equipmenttechnical specification, a technical specification of the selectedauxiliary equipment, the selected auxiliary equipment being associatedwith the selected primary equipment according to a compatibility rule.Technical specifications of auxiliary equipment may change based on acompatibility rule to match the technical specification of updatedprimary equipment, for example. The foregoing process of changingprimary equipment and updating auxiliary equipment may be repeated anynumber of times.

Prior to selecting auxiliary equipment, embodiments may includedisplaying a comparison of alternative auxiliary equipment technicalspecifications. Displaying may include outputting information and/ordata to a user through an interface. The output may be represented inmany forms: a generated text document such as Word, a chart such asExcel, an image file such as a .jpg, a vector image file such as a PDF,a vector architectural file such as DWG, and/or a BIM model such as anRVT or IFC. The output may be an electronic file, database, and/or indexcontaining information such as placement information and/or technicalspecifications. The comparison may include an interactive list ofauxiliary equipment technical specifications illustrating thedifferences and similarities among one or more pieces of auxiliaryequipment.

Then, having selected primary and auxiliary equipment, embodiments mayinclude generating a bill of material based on the selected primary andauxiliary equipment. In some cases, the bill of material is exportablein one or more electronic formats. As disclosed, a bill of material,sometimes referred to as “material list” or “bill of quantities,” mayrefer to a list describing the primary and auxiliary equipment requiredto physically construct a building system. In some examples, a bill ofmaterial may be exportable to an ERP or CRM system.

Further, at least one programming parameter for the selected primaryequipment may be generated. As disclosed, a programming parameter mayinclude a variable and/or input and/or field for the firmware, operatingsoftware, programming software, and/or communication protocol, for apiece of equipment that influences its operations. In some embodiments,at least one classification tag for the selected primary and auxiliaryequipment may be generated. A classification tag or equipmentclassification may include a textual or numeric identification toclassify a piece of equipment based on its characteristics and/ortechnical specification (e.g., 1332ABB may relate to all electricalcircuit breakers). Embodiments may include generating at least onecustomized setting for the selected auxiliary equipment. A customizedsetting or customized equipment configuration may include equipmentconfigurations associated with any one or more of the following:programming a piece of equipment in a manner that differs from defaultfactory settings; setting or altering a physical component of a piece ofequipment; combining one or more pieces of equipment, each with theirown separate order codes, configured to be fabricated or deliveredinside a common chassis, housing, rack, or enclosure; customizingphysical properties of one or more pieces of equipment; combining one ormore pieces of equipment requiring a custom order code; and/or includingan optional or separately-ordered accessory with a piece of equipment,and/or any other component ordered independently, as discussed ingreater detail herein.

In some cases, wiring diagrams may be generated indicating connectionsbetween at least one piece of selected primary equipment and at leastone piece of selected auxiliary equipment. A wiring diagram may includea representation of the electrical, audio, video, data and/or any othercables (sometimes called the “wiring runs”) connecting pieces ofequipment to each other and a termination point in a control panel(sometimes called the “head end”), as discussed in greater detailherein.

Embodiments may include selecting at least two pieces of auxiliaryequipment of at least two types, the at least two types including atleast one of wiring and/or a cable tray. Selecting at least two piecesof auxiliary equipment of at least two types may refer to the at leastone processor identifying and choosing two or more pieces of auxiliaryequipment, wherein the two or more pieces of auxiliary equipment havingdiffering characteristics.

Embodiments may enable specification of a spare capacity for at leastone of ports, cable fill, and/or power capacity. Spare capacity (alsoreferred to as the available capacity) may be calculated as a maximumcapacity minus a current usage level (or usage level at any point intime). In this context, ports may refer to sockets in a computernetwork, such as a network switch, into which devices may be plugged.Spare capacity as it relates to ports may refer to an available amountof free ports into which devices may be plugged. Cable fill, alsoreferred to as “conduit fill” or “raceway fill,” may refer to an amountof a conduit's cross-sectional area which may be occupied, or filled, byone or more cables. And power capacity may refer to the amount of poweravailable in a system, that is, the total power minus the presentconsumption of power. In some embodiments, enabling specification of aspare capacity may include allowing an external source to create,modify, delete, and/or in any way alter the spare capacity of ports,cable fill, and/or power capacity. For example, spare capacity may bedefined by a user. A user may store a spare capacity definition forlater use by the system and/or may define or re-define spare capacitydynamically during analysis.

Embodiments may include generating an equipment schedule indicating anassociation of primary and auxiliary equipment based on the selectedprimary and auxiliary equipment. An equipment schedule may refer to alist, a file, or, more generally, any data structure associating primaryand auxiliary equipment. The schedule may specify desired or availablequantities of equipment.

Auxiliary equipment may be selected for groups of rooms in aggregate.For example, a processor may consider selected primary equipment in asubset a plurality of rooms and select the auxiliary equipment based onan aggregation of primary equipment in the subset of the plurality ofrooms. Accordingly, by considering aggregates of primary equipment in asubset of room, embodiments improve efficiency by enabling auxiliaryequipment selection based on the group of pieces of primary equipment inbulk. Further, when auxiliary equipment relates to more than one pieceof primary equipment, such as a cable connecting two pieces of primaryequipment, conflicting compatibility rules can be resolved byconsidering the primary equipment in aggregate. As an example, if anaggregation of primary equipment share a manufacturer, auxiliaryequipment from that same manufacturer may satisfy compatibility rulesassociated with the primary equipment.

In addition, embodiments may include considering an aggregate quantityof selected primary equipment in the subset of the plurality of roomsbased on the aggregation of primary equipment in the subset of theplurality of rooms; and/or select the auxiliary equipment based on theaggregate quantity of primary equipment. An aggregate quantity ofselected primary equipment in the subset of the plurality of rooms mayrefer to a value representing the number of pieces of primary equipmentin an aggregation of pieces of primary equipment. Selecting theauxiliary equipment based on the aggregate quantity of primary equipmentmay refer to identifying and choosing pieces of auxiliary equipmentbased on the number of pieces of primary equipment that are in a groupof pieces of primary equipment. For example, if an aggregation ofprimary equipment includes 15 pieces of primary equipment, the at leastone processor may select a piece of auxiliary equipment which performsbest in conjunction with 15 pieces of primary equipment as opposed to apiece of auxiliary equipment which does not.

Embodiments may include identifying contours demarcating rooms from theaccessed floor plan by performing at least one of image processingand/or semantic analysis. As described herein, contours (sometimesreferred to the boundaries) may include the objects, real or imaginary,that constitute the borders of the room (e.g., walls and/or windowssurrounding a room). For example, geometric analysis or other techniquesmay be used to identify walls, windows, doors and other architecturalfeature which may demarcate the contours of the room, as discussed ingreater detail throughout the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 illustrates a structural design method 2100 for automaticallypositioning primary equipment and auxiliary equipment in a floor plan.The method may be implemented, by way of example, using a systemincluding at least one processor (illustrated by way of example in FIG.30).

At block 2102 of process 2100 in FIG. 21, at least one processor mayaccess a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms. Accessing a floorplan may include obtaining, examining, and/or retrieving data and/orfiles associated with the floor plan.

At block 2104, the at least one processor may assign functionalrequirements to each of the plurality of rooms. Assigning functionalrequirements to each of the plurality of rooms may refer to the at leastone processor selecting one or more functional requirements andassociating the one or more functional requirements with one of theplurality of rooms and repeating this process for each of the pluralityof rooms.

At block 2106, the at least one processor may access at least one datastructure containing technical specifications for primary equipment andauxiliary equipment, and further containing locations of primaryequipment and compatibility rules associating primary and auxiliaryequipment. For example, a data structure may refer to any type of datastored in a processor in an organized, searchable manner.

At block 2108, the at least one processor may generatively analyze afloor plan using functional requirements and technical specificationsfor primary equipment to select and position in the floor plan primaryequipment to at least partially conform to the functional requirementsfor each of the plurality of rooms.

At block 2110, the at least one processor may determine whetherauxiliary equipment is required for each of the plurality of rooms basedon the selection or positioning of the primary equipment in the floorplan, and using the compatibility rules and the technical specificationfor the primary equipment and the auxiliary equipment. Determiningwhether auxiliary equipment is required for each of the plurality ofrooms may include establishing whether conforming to the functionalrequirement necessitates both primary and auxiliary equipment for one ofthe plurality of rooms and repeating this process for each of theplurality of rooms.

At block 2112, the at least one processor selects the auxiliaryequipment to at least partially conform to the functional requirementsof each of the plurality of rooms requiring auxiliary equipment.Selecting the auxiliary equipment may include identifying the technicalspecification, type, brand, model, settings, configurations, parameters,and/or placement of a piece of auxiliary equipment in a way thatsatisfies the demands of the problem for every room in the plurality ofrooms which necessitates the use of auxiliary equipment.

Buildings may include a wide variety of equipment that requireselectrical wiring. Therefore, when designing a building, an architect ordesigner may need to create complex wiring diagrams for equipment toensure that wires are run properly throughout the building and permitvarious pieces of equipment to access electrical power. Creating suchcomplex wiring diagrams may be am extremely difficult and laborintensive task. Further, there is need to accurately and efficientlyidentify optimal solutions that satisfy functional requirements of room,minimize equipment and labor costs and/or minimize future operatingcosts.

Accordingly, aspects of this disclosure may include systems, methods andcomputer readable media for generating wiring diagrams for equipment.Disclosed embodiments may include a structural design system forgenerating a wiring diagram for equipment. The embodiments may simplifythis process by automatically generating wiring diagrams, for example,for equipment placed in a building's floor plan. Disclosed embodimentsmay also permit more accurate simulations, such as cost estimations, byselecting and locating specific equipment, and determining the specificmaterials needed to wire a room or building. Disclosed embodiments mayalso permit the selection of equipment associated with wiring such ascable trays and conduits. A processor may run a series of tasks toanalyze rooms of a floor plan to locate equipment and generate a wiringdiagram for the room. In some embodiments, the system may be acloud-based system. For example, the methods described herein may beexecuted in a virtual instance by a remote computer, rather than a localprocessor. Cloud-based computation can provide advantages inscalability, cost, and security over approaches that rely on localcomputational or conventional servers.

For ease of discussion, a method is described below, with theunderstanding that aspects of the method apply equally to systems,devices, and computer-readable media. For example, some aspects of sucha method may occur electronically over a network that is wired,wireless, or both. Other aspects of such a method may occur usingnon-electronic means. In a broadest sense, the method is not limited toparticular physical and/or electronic instrumentalities, but rather maybe accomplished using many differing instrumentalities.

Disclosed embodiments may include accessing a floor plan defining aplurality of rooms. As disclosed herein, floor plans may be in anysuitable format. For example, a floor plan may be represented in handdrawn or scanned images. In some embodiments, floor plans may be a CADfile or other type of vector-based or 2D or 3D file format. Floor plansmay be in building information model (“BIM”) files, for example, or anyother graphical or digital format. In some embodiments, a floor plan maybe represented as a data structure. Floor plans may be in digital andhard copy formats, or both. A floor plan may include a diagram of aroom, a suite of rooms, a whole floor of rooms, or an entire building ofrooms. For example, the floor plan may include such representations asviewed from above. A floor plan may consist of other associatedinformation with the plurality of rooms including technicalspecifications, functional requirements, equipment lists, energymetering, BMS data, iOT data, and other types of information asdescribed herein.

A floor plan may be accessed in a variety of ways including from anetwork location, such as a remote server, a network attached storagedrive, a remote database, a cloud storage service, or other types ofnetwork storage. In some embodiments, floor plans may be stored in andaccess from local storage, such as a storage device associated with theprocessor or a local database. In some embodiments, the processor mayaccess a floor plan using an associated scanner, camera, or other devicecapable of capturing images. Floor plans may also be accessed in othersuitable ways, as described herein.

In some embodiments, floor plans may define or demarcate a plurality ofrooms. As used herein, a room may include any defined indoor and/oroutdoor space. For example, a room may be an office, corridor, sleepingarea, kitchen, balcony, staircase, or other area of a building orstructure. Rooms are not limited to areas within a building orstructure. For example, in some embodiments, rooms may include exteriorareas of a building or structure, such as a garden, lawn, balcony,patio, deck, gazebo, roof, sidewalk, driveway, fire escape, or otherexterior area related to a building or structure. A room demarcation mayinclude information in the floor plan indicating the location of a roomin relation to the rest of the floor plan. The demarcation may includerepresentations of one or more boundaries (sometimes referred to ascontours) of the room. The boundaries may include objects, real orimaginary, that constitute the room's borders (such as walls or windowsthat surround a room), openings associated with the room's borders(doors and window leading in and out of the room), equipment and/orarchitectural features (columns, beams, furniture, etc.) contained inthe room. In some embodiments, the floor plan may include textualinformation, such as the name and function of the rooms, informationregarding the dimensions of the room, or other textual information

In some embodiments, the borders or contours of a room may not initiallybe demarcated in the floor plan. Accordingly, receiving the floor plandemarcating contours of a room may include performing additionalprocessing on the floor plan to demarcate the contours of the room. Insome embodiments, the plurality of rooms may be defined using floor plananalysis. Floor plan analysis may be used to demarcate contours of theroom. Floor plan analysis may include an image analysis, geometricanalysis, or other type of analysis suitable for defining rooms of afloor plan as disclosed herein.

Disclosed embodiments may also include receiving input associating atleast one of a plurality of functional requirements with at least oneroom of the plurality of rooms. As used herein, a functional requirementmay include but is not limited to a description of performanceparameters expected from a system. A functional requirement may bedefined for the entire system, for a project, a floor plan, a zone, aroom, an area or an architectural feature. A functional requirement maydescribe, for example, a minimal or maximal performance of the system ina task. The type of a functional requirement may be derived from thesystem it is applied to (e.g., an HVAC functional requirement maydescribe the performance of an HVAC system). Functional requirements maybe used as a target for a generative analysis. In some embodiments,functional requirements may be of different types. Further, differenttypes of functional requirements (for example noise level and cameracoverage) may be applied to the same area.

Functional requirements may be associated with rooms within a floorplan. For example, a room within a floor plan may be associated with afunctional requirement of a fire safety system to have a certain densityof smoke detectors. In some embodiments, a plurality of differentfunctional requirements may be associated with a room. In someembodiments, multiple rooms may be associated with one or more of thesame functional requirements.

As described herein, associating may include creating a logical pairfrom two entities of different types, such as, a room and a functionalrequirement. The pairing might take the form of an on-screenrepresentation or a logical pairing within an internal database or code.For example, a stored table may contain a list of rooms and associatedfunctional requirements. Stored associated pairs may also be passedtogether as an argument to a function and, in some cases, one member ofthe pair may appear as a property in the other member's data. Forexample, functional requirements associated with rooms may be stored asproperties of the data related to a room.

Accordingly, input associating rooms and functional requirements maytake a variety of forms, such as data indicating logical pairs. The datamay be provided in, for example, a database, spreadsheet, list, ormedium suitable for storing logical pairs. In some embodiments, theassociations may be stored in data properties of the rooms or functionalrequirements, as described herein. In some embodiments, the input maytake the form of user input, as described in greater detail below.

Input associating a functional requirement to a room may be received ina variety of ways. For example, the input may be received from a storagelocation. For example, the input associations may be received from anetwork location, such as a remote server, a network attached storagedrive, a remote database, a cloud storage service, or other types ofnetwork storage. In some embodiments, input associations may be storedin and accessed from local storage, such as a storage device associatedwith the processor or a local database. In some embodiments, theprocessor may receive input from a user through an input device, forexample a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, or other suitable instrument forreceiving user input.

Embodiments may include receiving the input as user input. For example,the input associating at least one of a plurality of functionalrequirements with at least one room of the plurality of rooms may beuser defined. As an example, the system may generate a user interface topresent to a user. The user may interact with the user interface tomanually define associations between rooms and functional requirements.In some embodiments, the interface may present a list of rooms andpermit the user to select from a plurality of functional requirementsthat the user may associate with each room. For example, the user mayselect functional requirements from a dropdown menu, using checkboxes,buttons, or other suitable methods of user interface interaction, suchas examples described herein.

In some embodiments, a user input defining an association of functionalrequirements can be bulk applied to a plurality of rooms. For example,the user may apply one or more functional requirements to a plurality ofrooms at the same time, rather than individually associate each roomwith the same functional requirement. In this way, embodiments canincrease efficiency and reduce labor. This may occur, for example,through classification of rooms into a group, and then assigning afunctional requirement to the group. In a hotel floor plan for example,artificial intelligence may identify sleeping rooms from other rooms, toenable functional requirements to be applied to all sleeping roomthrough a single assignment.

Disclosed embodiments may include accessing, in a data structure,technical specifications associated with electrical equipment. In thiscontext, electrical equipment may refer to any piece of equipment thatmay use or transmit electrical power. In some cases, electricalequipment may include but is not limited to: CCTV cameras, IR sensors,thermostats, motion detectors, occupancy sensors, smoke detectors, heatdetectors, thermal detectors, glass break detectors, door contacts,window contacts, or other sensors; audio speakers, strobes, alarms,amplifiers, lighting fixtures, IR illuminators, or any other devicesthat may produce an output; WI-FI routers, WI-FI Access Points, edgeswitches, core switches, access switches, Bluetooth routers, patchpanels, or other network devices; light switches, access control panel,smart house touchscreens and keypads, or other controllers; electricaldevices, including generators, uninterruptable power devices (UPS),distribution boards, transformers, breakers, power sockets and outlets,electrical wiring, cable trays, conduits, or any other equipment relatedto power or communications; lighting controllers, including relaymodules, dimming modules, dimming switches, or any other devices forcontrolling lighting; HVAC equipment, including air intake and outputvents, AC units, fan coil units, variable air flow handlers, chillers,heaters, fans, or other equipment for controlling climate in a building;display devices, including televisions, monitors, projectors, projectionscreens, or other equipment that provides visual output; computers,refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, drying machines, or otherappliances; and any other object using electrical power. In someembodiments, electrical equipment may also include equipment that doesnot use or transmit electrical power but is related to equipment thatdoes, for example, enclosures, mounting hardware, harnesses, connectors,and conduits.

A data structure may refer to any type of data storage, accessibleand/or searchable via a processor. As disclosed, data may containtextual, tabular, numeric or image information which describesequipment. The data associated with a piece of equipment, for example,may contain its model, type, brand, series, price information, specificproperties (such a IR rating or weather resistance), a technicalspecification, a physical description or a picture of the object. Thedata may be stored in a variety of formats, including SQL, MongoDB, AWSS3, CSV, XLS, JSON or any other data storage format. The data may bestored locally or in a cloud-based server.

A technical specification of equipment may include, but is not limitedto, one or more of a model identifier (specific manufacturer model orseries) and/or equipment class (e.g. Outdoor WI-FI Access Point, LongRange Access Point, Infrared Motion Sensor with 90 Degree Coverage,Modular Kitchen Cabinets). In some embodiments, a technicalspecification may include power consumption data. A technicalspecification can also include one or more technical characteristics. Atechnical characteristic may describe one or more properties of a pieceof equipment. In some embodiments, a technical characteristic may not berelated to any specific model of equipment. A technical characteristicmay include properties such as mounting device type, resolution, DBrating, luminosity, IR rating, lens type, network speed, wattagerequirement, color, dimensions, material, flammability rating, orwater-resistance.

Disclosed embodiments may further include selecting, from the datastructure, a plurality of the technical specifications associated withelectrical equipment. For example, the data structure may include alarge number of technical specifications associated with electricalequipment, such as power consumption specifications, voltagespecifications, current specifications, and others. One or more of thetechnical specifications may be selected and retrieved from the datastructure.

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may involvegeneration of a wiring diagram. A wiring diagram may include arepresentation of the electrical, audio, video, data, low-currentcables, or any other cables, sometimes called the “wiring runs,”connecting pieces of equipment to each other and its termination pointin a controlling panel. Wiring diagrams may also include homeruns. Ahomerun may include a connection from a device, not branched fromanother circuit or wiring run, but that connects directly to thebuilding's main electrical panel. The termination point of a wiring runmay be referred to as a “head end.” In some embodiments, all or portionsof a wiring diagram may be designed by hand or manually drawn in agraphic software by an engineer. A wiring diagram often uses graphicsymbols to represent different elements of the diagram.

Automatic generation of a wiring diagram may be performed in severaldifferent ways. An illustrative example of one of many ways forgenerating a wiring diagram may include: spreading a network or graph ofinterconnected nodes across the floor-plan; determining which of thenodes is closest to a piece of equipment and will serve as the wiringtarget; adjusting the positioning of the graph nodes to align to thefloor plan geometry; weighting the edges of the graph according to theirlength; adjusting the weights to encourage certain pathways: avoidanceof walls, preference to corridors or other architectural features;performing a graph traversal algorithm that suits the type of wiringtechnique required (such as Shortest walk, Djikstra, BFS or many otherpossible algorithms) to determine the optimal pathways from a chosenhead-end to all the wiring targets in the graph; and accounting forparameters and subjects which may include but are not limited toparameters as turn cost and multiple source points so that the generatedpathways are suitable. In some embodiments, wiring diagrams may begenerated in three dimensions. For example, an accessed floor plan maybe a BIM file and the generated wiring diagram may travers x, y, and zcoordinates of the BIM file.

In some embodiments, a wiring diagram may include conduiting, cabletrays, and other devices for holding or routing wiring or cables. Forexample, a cable tray system may be used to support insulated electricalcables used for power distribution, control, and communication. Cabletrays may be used as an alternative to open wiring or electrical conduitsystems, and may be used for cable management in commercial andindustrial construction. A wiring diagram may indicate inputs andoutputs at which equipment is to be connected. A wiring diagram mayindicate wiring traversing from the point of a piece of equipment toanother point. Further, a wiring diagram may indicate wiring homerunsusing a homerun symbol, rather than indicating wiring traversing fromthe point of a piece of equipment to another point (e.g. point-to-pointrepresentation of a homerun). For example, a homerun symbol may be anarrow which may further contain textual information indicating thetermination point of the wire (e.g., to Electrical Panel EHD-102 Breaker6). A symbol may also be used to indicate the destination of a wiringfrom a first piece of equipment to another equipment on a circuit,branch, loop or other wiring typology. A wiring diagram may includetermination connector technical specifications (e.g. RJ-45, RJ-11,etc.). A wiring diagram may also define the spare capacity and/orfill-capacity of conduits and cable trays. Generation of a wiringdiagram may include accessing power consumption data of equipmentconnected by wiring, performing a power calculation such as a voltagedrop calculation and determining a conforming wiring/cable specificationaccordingly.

A wiring diagram may include one or more technical specifications forwiring. In the disclosed embodiments, a wiring diagram may be comprisedof a plurality of equipment types and wire types. Identifiers for eachwiring connection may be specified in a wiring diagram. In some cases, awiring diagram may include a single line diagram, which may be also bereferred to as a “one line diagram,” and may refer to a simplifiednotation for representing an electrical system. In such diagrams,electrical elements such as circuit breakers, transformers, capacitors,bus bars, and conductors can be shown by standardized schematic symbols.A one-line diagram can also be used to show a high level view of conduitruns for any type system of electrical building system (such aslighting, power, VSS, fire, HVAC, and other systems) where schematicsymbols may be used to describe various components of the specificsystem.

In some embodiments, a wiring diagram may indicate point to point wiringpaths. Point to point wiring paths may display the entire path wiringtraverses from an originating point (e.g. piece of equipment) to itstermination points (e.g. another piece of equipment, a rack, enclosure,etc.) or to another piece of equipment on its branch, circuit, loop orother wiring typology. Such point to point wiring paths may differ froma homerun wiring diagram using a symbol, which indicates the pathtraversed by a piece of wiring to its termination point by using ahomerun symbol or other type of symbol to indicate its destinationpoint. Generally, cable distance may be calculated based on point topoint wiring paths. Point to point wiring paths may be schematic orapproximate, or precisely drawn on a project's conditions such asavailable space in the ceiling, whether wiring is in conduits or cabletrays, whether it runs along floors, ceilings or walls and/or anycombination thereof. Point to point wiring paths may be drawn in 3D.Point to point wiring paths may include specific inputs/outputs onpieces of equipment to which wiring is connected (e.g. Output A on Pieceof Equipment X connected to Input A on Piece of Equipment Y). In someembodiments, a wiring diagram may indicate a homerun by using directpoint to point wiring paths.

A wiring diagram may be made using one of several optional typologies.In this context, a typology may signify a type of route connectingbetween devices. For example, a “homerun” typology may be one in whichevery piece of equipment finds the shortest path to the panel (the “headend” or “homerun”) and uses that as its wiring route regardless of thepaths connecting other pieces of equipment. A “travelling salesman”typology may connect all devices in a single path, where every device isconnected to one device before and one after it in the path. In thecontext of wiring diagrams, a travelling salesman wiring topology refersto a wiring diagram which connect all the devices to a termination point(e.g. electrical panel or other head-end) by the shortest possible pathwhich passes through each device only once and returns to thetermination point. A “maximal loop” typology may connect devices using a“travelling salesman” approach until a certain maximal amount of devicesis reached, where the wiring will return to the terminal point. Othertypologies are also possible, such as bus, ring, star, mesh,full-connected, tree, line and bus. In some embodiments, wiring diagramsmay be generated with a plurality of wiring typologies. For example, adiagram may implement combinations of two or more typologies. In someembodiments, the method may include associating one or more wiringtypologies with equipment technical specifications.

FIG. 22A is a depiction of exemplary wiring typologies, consistent withdisclosed embodiments. Tree wiring 2201 illustrates n example of a treetypology, as described herein. As illustrated, device 2203 connected topanel 2207 in a “tree” that includes devices 2205 and 2206. Travellingsalesman wiring 2209 illustrates an example of a travelling salesmantypology, as described herein. Devices 2211 and 2213 are part of asingle path between the devices and panel 2215. Maximal loop wiring 2217illustrates a “maximal loop” typology, as described herein. For example,a system may determine that a loop may have a maximal amount of fivedevices based, for example, on the power consumption of each device.Accordingly, only five devices may be connected in loop 2223, includingdevices 2219 and 2221. Once the loop 2223 reaches five devices, it mayreturn to panel 2225.

FIG. 22B is a depiction of further exemplary wiring typologies,consistent with disclosed embodiments. Ring wiring typology 2231 mayinclude a ring in which each device 2233 is connected to two otherdevices in a single ring. Mesh wiring typology 2235 may include avariety of connections between devices, but all devices may not beconnected together or to a single point. For example, devices 2237 and2239 are connected together, as well as connected to device 2241.However, device 2240 is only connected to device 2239. Star wiringtypology 2243 may include a single central point 2249 to which the otherdevice 2247, 2245 are all connected. Star wiring typology 2243 alsoillustrates the idea of a wiring “homerun.” For example, the line fromdevice 2247 to device 2249 is a direct path “homerun.”

Fully connected wiring typology 2251 may include a connection from eachto device to every other device within the system. As shown, device 2253may be connected to every other device within the wiring diagram. Eachdevice in line wiring typology 2255 may be connected to at most twoother devices. For example, as shown, device 2257 is connected to onedevice in the line and device 2259 is connected to two other deviceswithin the line. Tree wiring topology 2261 may include “branches” inwhich multiple devices 2263, 2265 are connected together in a line toanother device 2267. Device 2267 may then be connected to other deviceswithin the system. Bus wiring typology 2269 may include a central line2273 or “bus” to which devices 2273 are connected.

FIG. 22B also includes exemplary wiring diagram representations. Pointto Point wiring representation 2275 illustrates homerun wires or otherconnections between two pieces of equipment in a wiring diagram using aline with a point on each end, the point indicating the connection atthe piece of equipment. FIG. 22B also includes homerun symbol example2277. As explained above, a homerun may be represented by a homerunsymbol instead of showing a point to point connection between twodevices. As shown, a homerun symbol may include an arrow 2273 andnotation 2274 indicating the device to which the homerun connection ismade.

Disclosed embodiments may further include generatively analyzing the atleast one room in conjunction with the functional requirement and theselected technical specifications in order to select a piece ofequipment for the at least one room and select an equipment placementlocation of the selected piece of equipment within the at least oneroom.

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may include agenerative analysis (e.g., a series of simulations), as disclosedherein. A generative analysis may include but is not limited to aprocess in which a solution to a problem, geometric, mathematical,physical, or otherwise, is arrived at by a computational device. As anexample, a solution in this context may be finding the placement of apiece of equipment in a way that satisfies the demands of the problem.As another example, a solution in this context may be finding the type,brand or model of a piece of equipment. As an example, a solution inthis context may be finding the settings, configurations, settings orparameters of a piece of equipment. In some embodiments, generativeanalysis may use optimization to arrive at a solution. In someembodiments, generative analysis may use rule based design to arrive ata solution. Generative analysis may include implementing an algorithm,which may include but is not limited to any of a large class ofalgorithms such as L-systems, Model based solvers, Machine Learningmodels, Decision trees, Random forests, Artificial Intelligence methods,Simulated Annealing, or other suitable algorithms for simulating orsolving a problem. A generative analysis process may include a learningprocess. In some embodiments, a system may learn from the behavior ofsolutions as parameters change.

In some embodiments, a generative analysis may be associated with a oneor a plurality of functional requirements, technical specifications, andtechnical characteristics as an input. For example, a generativeanalysis of a room may be based on a plurality of functionalrequirements. Examples for such requirements include but are not limitedto power consumption, resolution, focal length, communication protocol,wiring typology, coverage range, sensor type, dimensions, pixel density,brand, type, series and model. A generative analysis may use a varietyof input data including: room geometric and architectural features suchas area, volume, ceiling height, number of boundary segments, boundarycomplexity, number and locations of doors, number and locations ofwindows, obstacles such as columns and shafts, furniture such as desks,chairs and tables, topological connections, adjacent rooms and areas,room name, room function, the level of a building the room is locatedin, the zone the room is part of, and other data related to rooms,architectural features, and equipment. The data may also include datarelating rooms and equipment to other rooms or equipment. For example,the data may refer to the distance between a piece of equipment in theroom and the nearest exit point, the distance between a piece ofequipment to a corridor, or to an equipment room, head-end or electricalpanel. An analysis may also consider equipment technical specificationsand functional requirements, both within rooms and outside of them. Thisanalysis may seek to avoid duplicating equipment, avoid code andcompliance issues, fix clashing locations, and harmonize technicalspecifications or manufacturers across all rooms in a given level or aproject.

In some embodiments, a generative analysis may be used to selectequipment. In some embodiments, a selected piece of equipment mayinclude a light fixture, power socket, light switch, sensor, or otherpiece of equipment as described herein. A light fixture may be any typeof device used to light up a space. Sensors may be items of equipmentthat sense data in the physical world. Sensors types may include CCTVcameras, IR sensors, thermostats, motion detectors, occupancy sensors,smoke detectors, heat detectors, thermal detectors, glass breakdetectors, door contacts, window contacts, and other suitable devicesfor sensing data related to rooms or other spaces. In some embodiments,the selected equipment may include a model identifier. As describedhere, the equipment selection may be based on functional requirement andtechnical specifications. For example, a room may have a functionalrequirement that its lighting system must provide at least 500 lux to aroom. The room may also have a second functional requirement that theroom include no more than six overhead lights. A selected technicalspecification may define a class of lighting equipment, for example LEDlights. Accordingly, generative analysis may be conducted to select thespecific LEDs lights and the number of lights to place in the room. Thegenerative analysis may use an algorithm to optimize the selection ofthe light according to one or more parameters. For example, theselection may be optimized according to the initial cost of the lights,the power consumption of the lights, or other parameters, includingwiring paths associated with the lights.

In some embodiments, the generative analysis may include selectingequipment locations, and the selection may be based on wiring pathsassociated with the equipment. For example, the selected equipment maybe assigned a location on the floor plan within a room or relative toother pieces of equipment within a room or space. In some embodiments,the generative analysis may include generating wiring runs betweenlocated pieces of equipment. As described above, wiring runs may begenerating according to one or more wiring typologies. In someembodiments, a location of primary or auxiliary equipment may beselected based on, for example, the ability of a piece of equipment toconnect with other equipment using a particular wiring typology. Alocation may be based on optimizing shortest paths of wiring runs, or,for example, a location of an electrical enclosure, a cable tray, awiring rack, or other object.

In some embodiments, the selected piece of equipment and wiring runs maybe associated with at least one of a fire safety system, a securitysystem, an electrical system, or sensors. A fire safety system may be ofan array of equipment used to detect and warn building occupants whensmoke, fire or other emergencies are present and to contain suchemergencies. Examples of fire safety equipment include smoke detectors,carbon monoxide detectors, heat detectors, manual pull stations,sounders, strobes, speakers, and other equipment for fire detection oralert. For example: a sounder may emit an auditory sound to alertoccupants if a fire is detected by a smoke detector. A fire safetysystem may be integrated into a building management system. It may be anaddressable or non-addressable type. The wiring typologies of a firesafety system may vary. The requirements of fire safety systems may varybased on codes and regulations. In some embodiments, a fire alarm systemmay include one or more fire alarm panels. A fire alarm system mayinclude one or more wiring loops connecting the fire alarm panels to thearray of detectors, sounders and other equipment.

A security system in a building may include a physical security systemthat monitors and controls access to areas, rooms, or specific points ofinterest of a building. Security systems may include multiple types orcontain multiple components. For example, Video Surveillance Systems(VSS) and camera systems, which may be components of security systems,may include cameras, network components, records/NAS drives, and thelike. An intrusion alarm system may include various sensors and contactssuch as door contacts, window contacts, glass breaker sensors, as wellas sirens and audible alerts to alert occupants of an instruction and/oremergency. An access control system may include door locks, accesscontrol readers, controllers, and other suitable devices to restrict orcontrol access to doors, gate, and other points of entry.

A building electrical system may be a network of equipment designed tocarry, distribute and convert electrical power safely from the point ofdelivery or generation to the various loads around the building thatconsume the electrical energy. An electrical system may include aplurality of transformers, generator, meter, switchgear, bus/feeder,branch panels, distributions panels, circuit breakers, fuses, electricalcircuits and the loads connected to them (e.g. equipment such as HVACunits, chillers, pumps, elevators, lighting fixtures, power sockets, ITequipment, and other equipment that uses electrical power), electricalcable, enclosures, panels, equipment racks, and conduits and/or cabletrays that contain electrical cables.

In some embodiments, the generative analysis may generate a preferredwiring path. A preferred wiring path (or run) may relate to a preferencefor passing wiring through one space rather than through another. Forexample, a functional requirement may include a preference to passwiring through corridors rather than through private spaces such asoffices or sleeping areas, because public spaces may be accessed moreeasily and with less disturbance to building occupants than privatespaces, because of available space within a ceiling for the wiring. Inthis context, a preferred path may indicate rooms, areas within rooms,zones, lines or points in the floor plan where the wiring may pass.

Additionally, or alternatively, generative analysis may include aplurality of simulations to determine a preferred grouping of equipmentand wiring routes. For example, the selection of equipment may beoptimized according to different parameters in different simulations. Asanother example, multiple different simulations may be run usingdifferent algorithms. In some embodiments, wiring runs may also begenerated by each of a plurality of simulations. The preferred groupingof equipment may be selected based at least in part on the efficiency ofthe wiring runs. Efficiency of wiring may be determined, for example,based on the maximum distance of cables and/or total quantity of cablesand/or thickness and/or gauge of cables and/or cost of cables and/orcable trays and/or conduits and/or electrical panels, and/or cost andtime of installation and/or minimizing voltage drops. In otherembodiments, the multiple simulations may be run for different wiringtypologies. For example, two simulations may be run with the sameequipment or equipment locations, but one using a tree wiring typologyand one using a maximal loop wiring typology.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the method may include accessingstructural data associated with the at least one room, the structuraldata including wall locations. Structural data may be stored andaccessed from a variety of locations including a network location, suchas a remote server, a network attached storage drive, a remote database,a cloud storage service, or other types of network storage. In someembodiments, structural data may be stored and accessed from localstorage, such as a storage device associated with the processor or alocal database. In some embodiments, structural data may be stored in adata structure. According to disclosed embodiments, structural data maybe stored as properties associated with rooms of the floor plan withinthe floor plan data. Structural data associated with wall locations mayfurther include an ability of a wall to convey wiring. Certain walls,for example, may be constructed in a manner making them more suitablefor handling wiring. Conversely, some types of walls, such as fire ratedwalls, for example, may be ill-suited for wiring penetrations. Orcertain sections of walls might already be occupied by conduits of othersystems, making them less optimal for handling wiring. The system maytake these realities into account during a generative analysis.

Structural data may also include a door location, a window location, awall location, a shaft location, a column location, or locations ofother structural elements of buildings. In this context, a shaft may beany vertical space which traverses more than one floor of a building.Shafts may be used to pass electrical, water or any other types ofcabling vertically throughout the building. As an example, a shaft mightbe used for elevators. In some embodiments, a shaft may be empty of anyequipment or cabling. In some embodiments, a shaft may be an enclosedspace with no door leading to it, only accessible by, for example, aservice opening. In the context of structural data, a column may includeany physical, fixed, vertical element in the floor plan which is not awall. Generally, a column or pillar may be a structural element thattransmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above toother structural elements below. Large round support columns may supportbeams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest, forexample. Column may also refer to such a structural element that alsohas certain proportional and decorative features.

In some embodiments, accessing structural data may include performinggeometric analysis, semantic analysis, image analysis, machine learningmethods or any combination thereof in order to identify the plurality ofrooms in the floorplan and structural data associated with the roomssuch as walls, doors, windows and shafts.

Disclosed embodiments may further include generating a wiring diagramfor the at least one room using the selected technical specificationsand the structural data, wherein the wiring diagram includes a graphicalrepresentation on the floor plan of the equipment placement location ofthe selected piece of equipment and wiring runs to the selected piece ofequipment. A graphical representation may a symbolic image whichdescribes architecture as an image in CAD, PDF, JPG, BIM or any othersuitable format. As an example, the graphical representation may usedrawing conventions or symbols e.g., a wall may be represented by 2parallel lines) or as a BIM object which may contain a graphicalrepresentation along with metadata and parametric information. Thegraphical representation can represent layouts, rooms and architecturalfeatures such as doors and furniture. In some embodiments, it mayrepresent the system within the floor plan, equipment of the system, andthe wiring connecting them. Graphical representations may also containtextual information regarding the objects represented.

Disclosed embodiments may also include generating wiring diagrams for aplurality of rooms. In some embodiments, at least some of the wiringroutes for the plurality of rooms aggregate along a single path. Forexample, wiring routes for multiple rooms may pass through the samecolumn, corridor, or structural feature of a building.

In some embodiments, wiring diagrams may be generated for a plurality ofpieces of equipment of different equipment types. For example, a wiringdiagram may include wiring runs for light fixtures, as well as wiringruns for a fire alarm system. Generating the wiring diagram may be basedon a rule to avoid exterior areas of a building for wiring runs. Forexample, the generative analysis algorithm may be configured to notplace wiring runs on the exterior of a building. This may beadvantageous to keep wires concealed for aesthetics and security, aswell as protect them from weather.

Some embodiments may include automatically selecting auxiliary equipmentassociated with the selected piece of equipment and the generated wiringdiagram. Auxiliary equipment may include but is not limited to a pieceof electronic, mechanic or any other type of hardware that is anaccessory or serves in a role in a making a system devised of one ormore primary pieces of equipment functional or at least partiallyfunctional. For example, the auxiliary equipment for a video camera mayinclude a lens, cables, screws, fixings a patch panel, a video recorder,a network switch, a rack and a UPS. As another example, the auxiliaryequipment for a light fixture may include cables, a light switch,electrical breakers and an electrical panel board. In some embodiments,auxiliary equipment may include network infrastructure, electricalbreakers, and enclosures or racks. Other examples may include:electrical enclosure with electrical circuit breakers, a controller witha power supply, an access control reader with a controller, an accesscontrol reader with a power supply, smoke detector with a mount, a mountfor a TV or piece of furniture, a bulb for a light fixture, an HDMIcable and bracket for a TV, or a valve for an AC unit. The relationshipbetween primary and can be a physical combination (e.g. fuse inside apiece of equipment) or related/logical (e.g. access reader is pairedwith a controller via a cable connection).

Some embodiments may include defining a wiring termination point forequipment located in at least one room. In some embodiments, the wiringtermination point may be located in another room, different from the atleast one room. As described above, a wiring termination point may beanother piece of equipment, a rack, an enclosure, or another point atwhich a wiring run may end. In some embodiments, generated wiring maytraverse from the piece of equipment located in the at least one room tothe termination point in the other room. In some embodiments, there maybe a plurality of rooms with selected equipment and the generated wiringruns in the wiring diagram may terminate at a single termination point.As an example, a wing of a floor of a building may be given a wiringdiagram for wall power outlets that implements a tree wiring typology.The wiring for the power outlets in all six rooms of the wing of thebuilding may all terminate at a single panel (e.g., a circuit breakerenclosure). For example, a plurality of wiring terminations points mayterminate at a single level of a building (i.e., the termination pointsare located on a same level of a multi-level building).

In some embodiments, the termination point may be associated with anequipment rack or equipment enclosure. An equipment rack may house orenclose various pieces of equipment. The equipment can be of varyingtypes and sizes, for example, patch panels, network switches,amplifiers, controllers, and other equipment. Racks may vary indimensions and may be designated by a “U” size designation. Equipmentmay be rail mounted or shelf mounted inside a rack. In some embodiments,a rack may be ventilated. A rack may have an IP rating. An enclosure mayhouse and/or enclose various piece of equipment. The equipment can be ofvarying types and sizes, for example, patch panels, network switches,controllers, actuators, circuit breakers, fuses, and the like.Enclosures may be of varying dimensions. Equipment may be mounted insideenclosures using a DIN rail system. An enclosure may be an electricalenclosure, a building management system enclosure, an enclosure foraudio-video equipment, a network enclosure, or other type of enclosure.In some embodiments, the termination point associated with a rack orenclosure maybe a piece of equipment within the rack or enclosure, forexample, a circuit breaker, a switch, a fuse, or piece of equipment.

In some embodiments, the generated wiring runs may indicate a specificinput or output port at the wiring termination point. For example, awiring diagram may illustrate an enclosure that depicts multiple inputor output port locations. The wiring runs on the wiring diagram may beshown as terminating at a specific one of the enclosure's multipleports.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, a defined wiring terminationpoint may be user defined. For example, a user may select a point on afloor plan via a user interface, as disclosed herein. The selected pointmay be a user's desired termination point for a wiring run. In otherembodiments, a user may be enabled to edit wiring termination points.For example, the user may be able to move a termination point or selecta different termination point for a wire. For example, a user may move atermination from one head-end to another, or from one port on a piece ofequipment to another port on the same piece of equipment or a differentpiece of equipment. In some embodiments, a user may be enabled to bulkupdate of wiring termination points. Some embodiments may includereceiving user input modifying a termination of the selected piece ofequipment and generating a new wiring diagram based on the modifiedtermination.

Exporting data associated with the wiring diagrams including thetermination points may be included in some embodiments. Exporting datamay include saving the data to a data structure or other data storagelocation, as described herein. In some embodiments, exporting mayinclude saving, visualizing, printing, or otherwise outputting thegenerated wiring diagrams.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the generated wiring diagram maybe based on one or more preferred wiring runs. For example, generatingthe wiring diagram for a room may be based on a user definition of apreferred wiring run. A user may define a preferred wiring run via auser interface provided by the system. In some embodiments, thepreferred wiring run may be indicated by setting user preferences. Forexample, a user may set user preferences to indicate that wires shouldbe run through corridors rather than other rooms whenever possible. Asanother example, a user preference may indicate that wires going betweenfloors of a building should be run through shafts, as opposed to, forexample, walls or columns. This may be especially important for caseswhere wires physically cannot be run through certain structuralfeatures, such as solid structural columns or fire-rated walls. In someembodiments, a user may specifically define a preferred wiring path on afloor plan or diagram. For example, a user may define a wire path usinga line or other visual wire indicator drawn along floor plan. In someembodiments, the user may define a wire path in three dimensions in thex, y, and z axes of a floor plan. In some embodiments, a user mayspecify a non-preferred path for wiring runs. In contrast to a preferredpath, a non-preferred path may indicate a path that should be avoided bywiring runs.

In some embodiments, the method may include identifying a corridor andidentifying a preferred wiring run through the corridor, and generatingthe wiring diagram may be based on the preferred wiring run. Consistentwith disclosed embodiments, the corridor may be identified using asemantic enrichment process. Identifying a preferred wiring run mayinclude accessing a rule that defines one or more preferred wiring runs.The rule may be associated with, for example, the corridor, or anotherroom or area of the floor plan.

Disclosed embodiments may additionally include making calculations formaterials needed to wire a building according to the generated wiringdiagram. In some embodiments, the method may include calculating a totalwire length of the wiring runs. The total wire length may represent thetotal length of wiring needed to connect a system, counting individualwires, meaning if there are two wires running in parallel in a certainsegment of a wiring diagram, the total length is counted twice for thatsegment. Thus, the total wiring calculation may represent the entireamount of wire (length of the wire) needed to wire the room, area,floor, zone, building, etc. that corresponds to a given wiring diagram.In some embodiments, this calculation may be made on a per equipmentbasis. For example, the wiring length for a piece of equipment maysignify the distance traversed by a wire from the equipment to itsterminal point in the diagram (e.g., a panel or other piece ofequipment). As an example, the system may indicate that a certain poweroutlet requires 10 feet of wire to run from the outlet to a circuitbreaker in the corresponding termination panel. In some embodiments, auser may define a spare margin of wire lengths. A spare margin of wirelengths may indicate an extra amount of wire to be added to eachcalculated length. This may account for extra length that may possiblybe needed during the wiring installation process. A spare margin may bedefined for the entire length generated for the wiring diagram, or on aper device basis. In some embodiments, the user may define differentspare margins for specific type of devices. In some embodiments, sparemargins may be already built into the system's calculations. Forexample, device properties may indicate a spare margin that should beadded to the wiring length calculations for that device. Thus, whencalculating the wire length needed for that device, it may account forthe associated spare margin.

In some embodiments, the wiring diagram may include a cable tray, andcalculating dimensions of the cable tray. When physically constructingthe wiring of a building, several parallel wires may be placed in thesame cable tray or conduit. In these cases it may be necessary tocalculate the physical dimensions (diameter for conduit, width andheight for trays) needed to pass all the necessary wires. This may bedone by taking into account the thickness of the wires, any requiredspacing between wires (e.g. separating electrical and low-voltage cablesby a certain distance to avoid interference) as well as a certainredundancy. A certain over fill or capacity threshold may be definedaccording to a user, international standard, local code and the like(e.g. cable tray to be filled to max 60% capacity). In a generativeanalysis process, the size of the cable tray and or conduit may bemodified taking into account the technical specifications and quantityof the wires (e.g. thickness and diameter). The generative analysisprocess may also take into account rules (user defined or standards andthe like) regarding spacing of certain cable types (e.g. cat-6 cabledistance from electrical cables) or to other objects in determiningconduit and cable tray sizes.

The dimensions of the cable tray may be used to determine a fillcapacity for the cable tray indicating the maximal amount of wiring orcables that may fit within the tray. In some embodiments, a user maydefine a sub-maximal fill capacity. For example, the user may definethat all cable trays be filled to no more than 75 percent of maximalcapacity. Such sub-maximal fill capacities may permit easierinstallation and maintenance of wires within cable trays.

In some embodiments, the wiring diagram may include a conduit and mayinclude calculating the dimensions of the conduit. As described abovewith respect to cable trays, the dimensions of the conduit may be usedto determine a fill capacity for the conduit indicating the maximalamount of wiring or cables that may fit within the conduit. In someembodiments, a user may define a sub-maximal fill capacity for conduit.In some embodiments, the technical specifications of wiring or cablesthat may be contained in the same conduit may be defined (e.g. noelectrical and low-voltage cables within the same conduit).

In some embodiments, a bill of material may be generated for at leastone of a selected piece of equipment, wiring run, a conduit, or a cabletray of a wiring diagram. Embodiments consistent with the presentdisclosure may include generation of a material list, sometimes referredto as a “bill of materials” or as a “bill of quantities.” A materiallist, or bill of materials, may be a list describing the primary,secondary and auxiliary equipment required to physically construct abuilding system. A material list may be a list of equipment models whichmay or may not include the specific model, the quantity used, priceinformation, specific properties, and a physical description. A materiallist may include an image of the equipment. An equipment list may bedisplayed on the screen or exported to a textual (word), tabular (excel)or image (jpg, pdf) format. A material list may be electronicallytransmitted by email or via the internet to third-party software, ERPsystems and the like. For example, a bill of materials for a wiringdiagram of a room may include the materials needed for completing thewiring of the room, including type and quantity of each piece ofequipment (outlets, switches, light fixtures, alarms, and otherequipment as disclosed herein), the type and length of wire, the sizeand length of conduit, the size of cable trays, and other materials thatmay be needed to complete wiring of the room. In some embodiments, abill of material may include generic technical specifications orequipment identifiers.

Some embodiments may include outputting a technical specification of thewiring diagram based on technical specifications of the selected pieceof equipment. Technical specification of the wiring diagram may refer tothe general category of wiring/cable (e.g., high-voltage,medium-voltage, low-voltage, network, fiber optic, audio, video, orother cable type), a specific type within a category (e.g., Cat6 networkcable or Cat7 network cable), a thickness and/or gauge (e.g., 14American Wire Gauge (AWG) electrical cable), a color, a fire rating, anIP rating (e.g., indoor or indoor), jack/insultation type, a plenumrating, conductivity rating, number of conductors, or other property orcharacteristic of wiring. The technical specifications may include aspecific manufacturer and/or model identifier. As an example, technicalspecifications may identify one or more technical characteristics or awire such as 12 AWG thickness, 4 conductors, and a yellow PVC jacket.

In some embodiments, the selected technical specifications may includepower consumption data, and the wiring diagram may conform to the powerconsumption data. For example, a voltage drop calculation related to thewiring diagram may be performed to ensure that the diagram conforms to apower consumption limit or standard. In some embodiments, the wire sizeselected may adapt based on the voltage drop calculations and a user maydefine a voltage drop threshold. The system may be configured to adaptthe technical specifications of the wire or other equipment based on thecalculated voltage drop and the voltage drop threshold. For example, adifferent size wire may be selected if the calculated voltage dropexceeds the voltage drop threshold. As another example, equipment withlower power consumption may be selected so the voltage drop threshold isnot exceeded.

Some embodiments, may include generating an report indicating theselected piece of equipment, the wiring runs, and a wiring length on aper piece of equipment basis.

Some embodiments may be configured to permit a user to select functionalrequirements for the plurality of rooms and to calculate wire runs forequipment selected for the plurality of rooms. As described herein, auser may select or associate a variety of functional requirements withone or more rooms of a floor plan. The wire runs of equipment calculatedfor a wiring diagram may be based on the one or more user selectedfunctional requirements.

Some embodiments may include enabling a user to change the equipmentplacement location of the piece of equipment. This may include updatingthe wire runs associated with the changed equipment placement location.For example, a user may use an interface to select a piece of equipmenton a wiring diagram and drag the piece of equipment to a new locationwithin the diagram. The wiring diagram may then be updated based on thenew location. As described herein, a wiring diagram may be a calculationof the shortest paths between points on the floor plan, the pointsrepresenting the equipment and the terminal panel. The calculation maybe powered by a graph traversal algorithm such as Djikstra or BFS or anyother relevant algorithm. The calculation may also take into accountarchitectural aspects (corridors, walls, etc) of the floor plan asweighting in the graph traversal algorithm. Thus, when one piece ofequipment is moved in the floor plan, at least some part of thecalculation may need to be re-run, in order to regenerate the diagramaccording to the modified data. The calculation may be regeneratedbecause of a specific user request or because of an automatic processconfigured to detect when changes were made to the equipment placementwhich require recalculation. For example, after a piece of equipment ismoved, an update to the wiring diagram may occur automatically withoutuser intervention. If a piece of equipment is changed when it is moved,or is simply changed, embodiments might compare the wiring requirementsof the newly selected equipment, and if necessary, update the wiringdiagram to account for the new equipment. This might require changes inwire used, wire paths, channels, and conduits.

Some embodiments may include generating wiring diagrams for equipmentselect and located by a user. For example, a user may access aninterface to select a piece of equipment from a list of equipment andlocate the equipment on a floor plan. A wiring diagram may then begenerated based on the user selected and located equipment.

Some embodiments may include generating wiring diagrams for equipmentalready placed on the accessed floor plan. For example, accessed floorplans may already include equipment located on the floor plan.Accordingly floor plan analysis may be employed to recognize suchpre-placed equipment, and generate a wiring diagram for it, or includeit in a wiring diagrams that includes newly selected and locatedequipment.

It is to be understood that wiring diagrams may be generated forequipment that is selected and located in a variety of ways. Forexample, a single wiring diagram may include a combination of equipmentthat was selected and located by the embodiments disclosed herein,equipment that was selected and located by a user, and equipment thatwas already placed on the accessed floor plan.

In some embodiments, the system may be configured to enable user editingof wiring runs. For example, a user may be able to select and movewiring runs within a wiring diagram. After a user edits a wiring run,the wiring diagram may be updated. In response, other outputs associatedwith the wiring diagram may also be updated, such as wire lengthcalculations, bills of materials, indexes, and other outputs orcalculations that are based at least in part on wiring runs of a wiringdiagram.

Disclosed embodiments may include generating a second wiring diagram fora room and enabling a user to select a preferred diagram from among thefirst and at least the second wiring diagram. As disclosed herein, avariety of different wiring diagrams may be generated for a single roombased on for example, different equipment selections, equipmentlocations, functional requirements, technical specifications, wiringpaths, wiring typologies, generative analysis algorithms, user inputs,and other factors that may affect the generation of a wiring diagram. Insome embodiments, the two diagrams may include various specificationsrelated to each diagram, such as wire length, wire gauge, voltage drop,cable tray size, conduit size, cost, and other data related to aspecific diagram, displayed within the diagrams. Comparative data mightbe displayed to assist the user in making a decision between wiringdiagrams. For example, information associated with material cost, laborcost, and/or material volume may be presented to the user.

FIG. 22C is a depiction of an exemplary wiring diagram, consistent withdisclosed embodiments. Floor plan 2280 indicates exemplary devicelocations. As disclosed herein, equipment may be selected and locatedwithin the floor plan using a variety of methods. In floor plan 2280,devices are represented by a variety of symbols. For purposes ofillustration, devices 2281, 2283 are illustrated using small circles,but any other suitable symbol may be used in the embodiments. Differentsymbols may be used to represent different models or types of devices.For example, termination point 2289 is illustrated using a differentsymbol from devices 2281, 2283. The floor plan may also includedepictions of structural data, for example, walls 2285 and 2287.

Further, as disclosed herein, a wiring diagram may be generated for thedevices located on floor plan 2280. In wiring diagram 2290, wiring runsare represented by dotted lines, but other methods of representingwiring runs may be used, including solid lines, dashed lines, coloredlines, BIM objects, and others. A wiring diagram may illustrate a wiringrun (i.e., path) from each device back to a termination point. Forexample, wiring run 2291 connects device 2281 to termination point 2289.As disclosed herein, the termination point may be, for example, anenclosure or panel that includes equipment, such as circuit breakers orswitches.

As depicted in wiring diagram 2290, some of the wiring runs for roomsmay aggregate along a single path 2293. For example, run 2293 includeswiring runs from devices 2295 and 2297, as well as a number of otherdevices, as shown. As shown by run 2293, aggregated runs may berepresented by a different style or type of lines, a larger or thickerline, a different color, or other differentiating technique. Otheraggregated runs such as run 2299 may be represented with a differentline. In some embodiments, the determination of whether to use adifferent line may be made based on the number of runs aggregated alongthe particular path of the diagram.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 2300 forgenerating a wiring diagram for equipment, consistent with disclosedembodiments. Process 2300 may be performed by a processing device, suchas any of the processors described throughout the present disclosure. Itis to be understood that throughout the present disclosure, the term“processor” is used as a shorthand for “at least one processor.” Inother words, a processor may include one or more structures that performlogic operations whether such structures are collocated, connected, ordisbursed. In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readablemedium may contain instructions that when executed by a processor causethe processor to perform process 2300. Process 2300 is not necessarilylimited to the steps shown in FIG. 19 and any steps or processes of thevarious embodiments described throughout the present disclosure may alsobe included in process 2300.

At step 2301, process 2300 may include accessing a floor plan defining aplurality of rooms. As described herein, floor plans may be accessed ina variety of formats and may include other information associated withthe spaces within the floor plan. A floor plan may be accessed in avariety of ways including from a network location, a cloud storage,local storage, or other types of access as described herein. In someembodiments, floor plans may include or reference furniture or otherarchitectural features. In some embodiments, step 2301 may includeperforming a floor plan analysis on the floor plan to identify contoursof a plurality of demarcated rooms of the floor plan.

At step 2303, process 2300 may include receiving input associating atleast one of a plurality of functional requirements with at least oneroom of the plurality of rooms. As described above, functionalrequirements may be associated with rooms within a floor plan and theinput associating rooms and functional requirements may take a varietyof forms and be received in a variety of ways.

In some embodiments, step 2303 may include receiving the input as userinput. For example, step 2303 may include generating a user interface topresent to a user. The user may interact with the user interface tomanually define associations between rooms and functional requirements,as described above.

At step 2305, process 2300 may include accessing, in a data structure,technical specifications associated with electrical equipment. Asdescribed herein, data in a data structure may access in variety of waysand be stored in a variety of locations.

At step 2307, process 2300 may include selecting, from the datastructure, a plurality of the technical specifications associated withelectrical equipment. For example, the data structure may include alarge number of technical specifications associated with electricalequipment, such as power consumption specifications, voltagespecifications, current specifications, and others. One or more of thetechnical specifications may be selected and retrieved from the datastructure, as disclosed herein.

At step 2309, process 2300 may include generatively analyzing the atleast one room in conjunction with the functional requirements and theselected technical specifications in order to select a piece ofequipment for the at least one room and select an equipment placementlocation of the selected piece of equipment within the at least oneroom. As described herein a generative analysis may be performed invariety of ways, including using one of number of disclosed algorithmsto analyze data related to a room and select equipment and equipmentlocations based on such data. In some embodiments, the generativeanalysis may include implementation of a machine learning or artificialintelligence model, as described above. A generative analysis may use avariety of input data including: room geometric and architecturalfeatures such as area, volume, ceiling height, number of boundarysegments, boundary complexity, number and locations of doors, number andlocations of windows, obstacles such as columns and shafts, furnituresuch as desks, chairs and tables, topological connections, adjacentrooms and areas, room name, room function, the level of a building theroom is located in, the zone the room is part of, and other data relatedto rooms, architectural features, equipment, functional requirements,and technical specifications. In some embodiments, a generative analysismay be used to select and locate equipment in a floor plan. In someembodiments, the generative analysis of step 2309 may include aplurality of simulations to determine a preferred grouping of equipmentand wiring routes.

At step 2311, process 2300 may include accessing structural dataassociated with the at least one room, the structural data includingwall locations. Structural data may be stored in and accessed from avariety of locations and may include a door location, a window location,a wall location, a shaft location, or a column location. Structural datamay also include locations of other structural elements of buildings.

At step 2313, process 2300 may include generating a wiring diagram forthe at least one room using the selected technical specifications andthe structural data, wherein the wiring diagram includes a graphicalrepresentation on the floor plan of the equipment placement location ofthe selected piece of equipment and wiring runs to the selected piece ofequipment. As described above, a variety of wiring diagrams may begenerated based on various data related to the floor plan, equipment,user input, functional characteristic, technical features, and others.Consistent with disclosed embodiments, step 2313 may include generatingwiring diagrams for a plurality of rooms, such as is illustrated anddescribed in connection with FIG. 18B. In some embodiments, step 2313may include generating wiring diagrams for a plurality of pieces ofequipment of different equipment types.

In some embodiments, step 2313 may include defining a wiring terminationpoint for equipment located in at least one room or receiving a userdefined termination point, as described above. In some embodiments, step2313 may include exporting data associated with the wiring diagramsincluding the termination points. In some embodiments, as describedabove, step 2313 may include permitting a variety of user interactions,including, for example, selecting equipment, locating equipment, movingpreviously located equipment, moving wiring runs, indicating preferredor non-preferred wiring paths, and others.

Step 2313 may also include, consistent with disclosed embodiments,making calculations for materials needed to wire a building according tothe generated wiring diagram, generating a bill of materials, andoutputting technical specifications. Step 2313 may also includegenerating multiple wiring diagrams for a room or floor plan, andpermitting the user to choose between the multiple diagrams.

Aspects of this disclosure may include systems, methods and computerreadable media for extracting data from a 2D floor plan and retaining itin a building information model. Architectural plans may includetwo-dimensional (“2D”) drawings or other 2D visual representations offloors of buildings. The lack of structured semantic information andmetadata regarding architectural features in a 2D drawing may impede orprevent a generative analysis process, or other computational or basedprocesses. For example, in the case of running a simulation to placeequipment within a room, the room geometry, demarcations and contoursmay be critical. Without a means of efficiently identifying thesedemarcations, running simulations on a plurality of rooms may beinfeasible or not practical. As another example, room area, boundarysegments and other architectural features may be relevant to thegeneration of an index or bill of material. These features may also becritical inputs, for example, to a semantic enrichment process. Withoutthe means to efficiently extract these features, the process may belaborious or, on large projects, not feasible. Other actions, such asbulk application of functional requirements, technical specifications,or equipment to rooms may not be feasible without identified roomdemarcations. Furthermore, 2D drawings may also provide limited context.For example, a designer may not be able to fully grasp the relative sizeor proportions of a room on a 2D floor plan, without having avisualization of the height of the walls of the room. Additionally,visualizing differences between floors of a building or the relativelocation of rooms located on different floors may be difficult.

Accordingly, semantically structured building information models, whichmay be a 3D model, may be useful when designing and constructingbuildings. However, creating building information models of unstructured2D floor plans manually may be inaccurate and labor-intensive. In somecases, a user may wish to create a building information model from afloor plan that is hand drawn or otherwise not already in a computerizedformat. To address these challenges, disclosed embodiments mayfacilitate creation of building information models of pre-existing floorplans by extracting data from a 2D floor plan and using the extracteddata to generate a building information model. Embodiments include usinga variety of automated approaches that consider geometric or other imageproperties of floor plans. Disclosed embodiments may also generate 3Drepresentations of multiple related floor plans to permit a designer to,for example, view multiple floors of at building at once using a singlemodel.

A processor may run a series of tasks to access a floor plan, identifywall boundaries of rooms within the floor plan, and generate a buildinginformation model based at least in part on the wall boundaries. In someembodiments, the system may be a cloud-based system. For example, themethods described herein may be executed in a virtual instance by aremote computer, rather than a local processor. Cloud-based computationcan provide advantages in scalability, cost, and security overapproaches that rely on local computational or conventional servers.

For ease of discussion, a method is described below, with theunderstanding that aspects of the method apply equally to systems,devices, and computer-readable media. For example, some aspects of sucha method may occur electronically over a network that is wired,wireless, or both. Other aspects of such a method may occur usingnon-electronic means. In a broadest sense, the method is not limited toparticular physical, electronic instrumentalities, but rather may beaccomplished using many differing instrumentalities.

Disclosed embodiments may include accessing a 2D floor plan demarcatinga plurality of rooms. As described herein, accessing may occur, forexample, when a floor plan is opened, uploaded, linked, retrieved,recovered, extracted, or otherwise provided to or obtained for analysisby at least one processor. In some embodiments, accessing may occur whenat least one processor is enabled to perform operations on the floorplan. Accessing may occur when a floor plan is retrieved from storage,such as a form of memory. A floor plan may be accessed from a variety oflocations, as disclosed herein.

By way of example, FIG. 24A is an illustration of exemplary stages of anexemplary process for extracting data from a 2D floor plan and retainingit in a building information model, consistent with disclosedembodiments. As shown, an exemplary floor plan 2400 may be accessed. Thefloor plan may demarcate a plurality of wall boundaries including window2401, exterior wall 2403, and interior wall 2405.

Floor plans may be in any suitable format, as disclosed herein. Forexample, a floor plan may be represented in hand drawn or scannedgraphics. In some embodiments, a 2D floor plan may be a CAD file. CADmay include but is not limited to a vector based representation ofgeometry used to describe architectural projects. CAD files may containgeometric primitives such as points, lines, polylines, curves. Theprimitives may be organized in drawing layers, which may be used to addgraphical information (e.g., plot line widths and colors) or semanticinformation (e.g., names which identify a function of an object).Additionally or alternatively, CAD files may contain one or morecollections of primitives arranged together in different collectionssuch as texts, hatches, groups, blocks, and XREFs, which representdifferent types of geometric or functional abstractions (such asfurniture, mechanical equipment, or information from other parties). CADfiles may be displayed using dedicated software such as AutoCAD,converted into printable formats such as PDF.

In other embodiments, a 2D floor plan may be a PDF file. PortableDocument Format (“PDF”) files may be used to present documents,including text formatting and images, in a manner independent ofapplication software, hardware, and operating systems. Based onPostScript language, each PDF file may encapsulate a completedescription of a fixed-layout flat document, including text, fonts,vector graphics, raster images and other information needed to displayit. PDF files mafy contain a variety of content besides flat text andgraphics including logical structuring elements, interactive elementssuch as annotations and form-fields, layers, rich media (including videocontent) and three dimensional objects using U3D or PRC, and variousother data formats. PDF files are often used as an output for CADsoftware since they preserve vector format of CAD, albeit withoutconventional editing capabilities.

As yet another example, a 2D floor plan may be an image file. Image fileformats may include standardized formats for organizing and storingdigital images. An image file format may store data in an uncompressedformat, a compressed format (which may be lossless or lossy), or avector format. Image files may include digital data in one of theseformats so that data can be rasterized for use on a computer display orprinter. Rasterization may convert image data into a grid of pixels.Each pixel can have a number of bits to designate its color (and in someformats, its transparency). Rasterizing an image file for a specificdevice may take into account a number of bits per pixel (color depth)that a device is designed to handle. Non-limiting examples of image fileformats include JPEG file, TIFF file, PNG file, BMP file, or othergraphical or digital file formats.

In some embodiments, a floor plan may be stored in a data structure.Floor plans may be in digital and hard copy formats, or both. A floorplan may include a diagram of a room, a suite of rooms, a whole floor ofrooms, or an entire building of rooms. For example, a floor plan mayinclude such representations as viewed from above. A floor plan mayconsist of other associated information with a plurality of roomsincluding technical specifications, functional requirements, equipmentlists, energy metering, BMS data, iOT data, and other types ofinformation as described herein.

In some embodiments, floor plans may demarcate a plurality of rooms. Aroom within a floor plan may be an area within a building or structure,for example, an office, corridor, sleeping area, kitchen, balcony,staircase, or other area of a building or structure. As describedherein, rooms are not limited to rooms or areas within a building orstructure. For example, in some embodiments, rooms may include exteriorareas of a building or structure, such as a garden, lawn, balcony,patio, deck, gazebo, roof, sidewalk, driveway, fire escape, or otherexterior area related to a building or structure.

A room demarcation may include information relating to a floor plan thatmay indicate a location of a room in a floor plan in relation to therest of the floor plan. A room demarcation may also include boundaries(also referred to herein as contours) of a room. Boundaries may includeobjects, real or imaginary, that constitute borders of a room (such aswalls or windows that surround a room), openings associated with aroom's borders (such as doors or windows leading in and out of a room),equipment, architectural features (such as columns, beams, furniture, orothers) contained in or around a room.

Embodiments may include identifying wall boundaries of a plurality ofrooms using a machine learning method. As described herein, wallboundaries may be contours or other indicators of a space that show aroom relative to other rooms within a floor plan. Identifying mayinclude pointing, tagging, measuring, specifying, extracting, labeling,or any other means of identifying. In some embodiments, identifying mayinclude highlighting or otherwise delineating identified boundaries on afloor plan.

For example, as shown in floorplan 2407 of FIG. 24A, embodiments mayinclude identifying wall boundaries of floor plan 2400. Identifying wallboundaries may include highlighting the wall boundaries on the floorplan 2407. For example, window 2405 may be highlighted as identifiedboundary 2409. Similarly, interior wall 2405 and exterior wall 2403 maybe highlighted as identified boundaries 2413 and 2411, respectively.

According to disclosed embodiments, machine learning may be used toidentify rooms and/or room demarcations contained in a floor plan.Machine learning may refer to artificial intelligence or machinelearning models or algorithms as described herein. Embodiments mayinclude using artificial intelligence to segment walls and rooms fromimages of floor plans. For example, artificial intelligence may be usedto detect and classify architectural features on floor plan images,detecting features such as windows, doors, door sills, stairs,furniture, equipment or any other features. As another example,artificial intelligence may determine room type using feature based MLmodels such as XGBoost. Embodiments may include using artificialintelligence NLP (Natural Language Processing) to infer semantic meaningfrom text. Machine learning models may include but are not limited toclassification models, neural network models, random forest models,Convolutional Neural Network Models, deep learning models, recurrentNeural network models, support vector machine models, a support vectormachine model, ensemble prediction models, Adaptive Network BasedInference System, or any other machine learning model. Possible deepneural types of CNN's for Computer Vision and other potential tasks mayvary by tasking and may include Resnet 50 for Classification, RetinaNetand Mask RCNN for Detection, and Unet and Mask RCNN for Segmentation.Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may includestructured data models such as, for example, boosting algorithms (e.gXGBoost), standard neural networks, and random forest models.

As an illustrative non-limiting example, a Unet or Mask RCNN model maybe used to segment walls from the images of 2D floorplan. Asillustrative non-limiting examples regarding annotations, geometricobjects such as boxes, oriented boxes or polygons may be used toidentify and demarcate features of walls in a plurality of floor plans.Annotation objects may be generated in a variety of ways, such asautomatically by using heuristic, geometric or statistic algorithms.Alternatively or additionally, other object generation techniques may beemployed. Alternatively, the walls may be manually annotated. Annotatedfloorplans may be divided into training and validation sets. In thiscontext, annotations may be used for detection, segmentation,classification tasks, computer vision tasks, or a variety of otherartificial intelligence tasks, as well as in statistical methods. Asillustrative non-limiting examples, training images with annotated wallsmay be cleaned by removing text, redundant features, other elementsand/or cropped and/or augmented. Following the segmentation of walls bya machine learning model, for example, various post-processingtechniques may be used. On a black and white image, for example, edgedetection may be used to determine borders between black and white, andto join these edges into polyline chains.

Identifying wall boundaries may include performing one of a variety oftypes of analysis on the floor plan to extract room features such asdoors, windows, walls, as wall length, area and many other possiblefeatures. The extraction of these features may be based on lines withinthe floor plan. For example, an analysis differentiate between differenttypes of lines present on floor plan to determine which lines correspondto room walls and which lines do not. In some embodiments, aspects ofthe rooms of the floor plan other than walls may be used to identifywall boundaries. For example, a door, window, railing, half wall, orother feature may form part of a boundary between rooms and thus be usedto identify wall boundaries. Some embodiments may involve identifying atleast one of a door or a window in the 2D floor plan, and identifyingwall boundaries of the plurality of rooms may be based on the door orthe window.

Some embodiments may involve ignoring at least one of a gridline, adimension, or an irrelevant layer in the 2D floor plan. A floor plan mayinclude a number of lines which do not correspond to room demarcations.Such lines may need to be ignored during wall boundary identification inorder to accurately identify boundaries. For example, in architecturalplans, a design plan may be based upon a grid. The grid intersectionpoints may mark the centers of foundations, columns, or otherarchitectural features of a building. An architectural grid is notalways uniform and may be depicted by dashed or solid lines. In someplans, a grid may be accompanied by notations marking the numbers of thestructural elements. As another example, a floor plan may includedimensions, which may be graphic notations marking distances betweenelements of the plan. Dimensions may indicate distances between objectsor between abstractions such as gridlines. Dimensions may be drawn usinga line with accented endpoints and a number signifying the dimensionsize. Dimensions may be in mm, meter, inches or any other accepted unit.A dimension may be ignored, for example, recognizing the accentedendpoints or a number associated with the dimension line. As anotherexample, one or more layers of a floor plan file may include informationthat is not relevant to the structure of the building. For example, aCAD plan may include irrelevant layers containing text, annotations, orfurniture. Conversely, layers containing, for example, walls, doors andwindows may be relevant layers that are not ignored.

Types of analysis used to identify room wall boundaries may includeusing geometric analysis, topological analysis, image processing, andartificial intelligence methods as described herein. In someembodiments, the process may include using a geometric analysis may beused to identify the wall boundaries. As used herein, a geometricanalysis may include any form of analysis for extracting informationfrom a floor plan based on geometries represented in the floor plan. Ageometric analysis may include an inspection of a floor plan representedin a BIM, CAD, PDF or file format containing geometric entities such aslines, polylines, arcs circles or vectors. The geometric analysis mayuse coordinates (e.g., XYZ coordinates) of end points of entities todetermine properties of the entities and their relationship each other.For example, information derived from a geometric analysis may include:line length, line direction, the location of geometric objects in thefloor plan, or any other properties represented in the floor plan. Thegeometric analysis may include searching the floor plan for sets ofparallel lines or vectors, perpendicular lines or vectors or lines in acertain angle, which may be indicative of walls or other boundaries of aroom. The geometric analysis may include measuring distances betweenentities and find pairs of entities close to each other, identifyingsets of entities that create patterns which repeat in differentlocations in the floor plan, finding relations of inclusion between apoint and a closed geometry, or any other relationships between points,lines, or shapes represented in the floor plan that may indicate roomboundaries.

Embodiments may also include performing a topological analysis on thefloor plan. A topological analysis may include but is not limited to ananalysis of the connectivity of spaces within a floor plan that canreveal information regarding the properties of these spaces. Atopological analysis may define relationships between rooms and theirposition in the floor plan hierarchy using the doors that connectbetween them to create spatial maps. A spatial map may be described asweighted graphs and graph properties such as connectivity and shortestpaths derived. The spatial map may be used to define rooms andaccordingly, identify the corresponding wall boundaries.

According to disclosed embodiments, an image analysis may be performedon the floor plan. An image analysis may include but is not limited toan analysis of a pixel-based image such as a jpg or bmp which uses pixelcolor and location within the image to gather information regarding thegeometry it represents. In this context, an image analysis may be usedfor analyzing a floor plan if no vector information exists, such as withhand drawn or scanned plans, for semantic enrichment. For example, imageanalysis may be used to demarcate contours of rooms, differentiatebetween rooms, or identify other features of rooms in a floor plan. Insome embodiments, algorithms from the world of computer vision can usedto reconstruct geometric features from pixel-based images. Otherexamples of imaging processing may include a Hough transform algorithm,Canny edge detection, and other suitable image processing techniques asdescribed herein.

Consistent with the present disclosure, other various forms of machinelearning analysis may also be employed to identify wall boundaries ofrooms of floor plan. For example, a semantic analysis may be performedthat identifies wall boundaries based on labels associated with thelines of a floor plan. Further, as disclosed herein, the various formsof analysis may also be used to identify other features of rooms apartfrom wall boundaries, including but not limited to architecturalfeatures or equipment located within the room.

Some embodiments may further include identifying rooms in the 2D floorplan and identifying wall boundaries based on the identified rooms. Forexample, rooms may be identified through data related to the rooms inthe floor plan, such as labels or other semantic designations. In someembodiments, a flooding algorithm may be used to identify rooms based ontheir wall boundaries. In some embodiments, a machine learning model maybe trained to identify rooms based on their wall boundaries. In someembodiments, rooms may also be identified through architectural featuresapart from wall boundaries, such as columns, railings, or beams. Roomsmay also be identified based on locations of furniture on the floorplan. Once an area of a floor plan is identified as a room, the machinelearning model may identify the wall boundaries associated with theroom. For example, an area of a floor plan may be identified as a roombased on its label of “Office” and the presence of furniture in thearea, including a desk and two chairs. Accordingly, the machine learningmodel may identify the lines around the space of the floor plan thatincludes the “Office” label and furniture symbols as the wall boundariesof the room.

In some embodiments, rooms and their contours may be identified based onthe identified wall boundaries using a flooding algorithm. For example,room boundary reconstruction from a black and white image pixelatedimage in which wall locations are represented in black may beaccomplished via a 4-way flood fill algorithm. Flood fill may refer toan algorithm that may determine the area connected to a given node in a2D array. As an example, a flood fill algorithm may be implemented bythe “bucket” fill tool of paint programs to fill connected,similarly-colored areas with a different color. The algorithm may lookfor all nodes in the array that are connected to the start node by apath of a target color and changes them to the replacement color. Inthis case, the algorithm may start in a random white (empty) point and,for example, flood fills using a third color (orange for example). Theresulting orange pixels, for example, which changed colors in thisflooding sequence, may represent a single room and are stored in a list.The orange pixels on this list which may have black neighbors may beconsidered the border of the room and may be joined together in asequence. The sequence, for example, may then cleaned to keep only thecorners and remove pixels on the lines between them. Then, another whitepixel may be chosen and the process may start again, until all pixelsare either orange or black. The room with the bounding box of theoriginal image may be discarded as it represents the frame of thepicture and not a bounded room. An example of the results of flood fillis illustrated in FIG. 24G, described in greater detail below.

Disclosed embodiments may further include calculating an area of the 2Dfloor plan. Calculating an area of the 2D floor plan may includeestimating a two-dimensional areal extent or size of a room, corridor,area of interest, area of disinterest, or other space within the floorplan. An area calculation may be approximate, rather than exact. Acalculation may include summing pixels contained within boundaries ofthe area, using an equation (e.g., length times width for rectangular orsquare spaces, one half base time height for triangular areas). Acalculation may include summing estimates of sub-areas of an area (e.g.,a sum of a rectangular sub-area plus a semi-circular sub-area).Calculating an area may be based on boundaries of a room. Calculating anarea may include subtracting enclosed spaces (e.g., subtracting the areaof a stairway for a room enclosing the stairway). More generally,calculating an area of a 2D floor plan may include using any suitablemethod of geometric or image analysis to estimate the area.

Some embodiments may further include identifying a wall material. Forexample, a floor plan may include data related to the materials ofvarious walls of the building. Wall material data may be included inmetadata associated with the floor plan. In some embodiments, the wallmaterials for various walls may be stored in a data structure associatedwith the floor plan such as a layer name or block attribute in a CADfile. Accordingly, identifying the wall material of a wall may includeretrieving the wall material from a corresponding data entry. In someembodiments, wall material may be identified based on the graphicalrepresentation and geometric data of the wall on a 2D floorplan. Forexample, different wall thicknesses, fill patterns, hatches, colors,line styles (e.g. dashed or continuous), number of lines (e.g. aplurality of parallel may represent a window) and other attributes mayrepresent be used to represent different wall materials. A machinelearning model such as ResNet-50, for example, may be trained toclassify wall materials from images of floorplans. A wall material maybe, for example, brick, gypsum, concrete, wood, tile, plaster, metal, orothers. The wall material data may be used, for example, to generate abill of materials or enhance the visual representation of the buildinginformation model discussed in greater detail below.

Disclosed embodiments may also include storing the identified wallboundaries in a retention data structure. It may be useful to retain thedata associated with the identified wall boundaries for later use, forexample, in generating a building information model, as described ingreater detail below. As used herein, a retention data structure is anydata structure or other type of data storage used to store dataassociated with identified wall boundaries as well as otherarchitectural features such as doors, windows, furniture, equipment androom geometric data. As described herein, a data structure may refer toany type of data stored in an organized, searchable manner and include avariety of data storage formats. Storing the wall boundaries may includesaving, sending, uploading, or otherwise communicating the dataassociated with the identified wall boundaries to a storage device. Forexample, storing may include saving the wall boundary data to a localstorage device or uploading the data to a cloud storage service.

Some embodiments may additionally include identifying architecturalfeatures of a 2D floor plan and storing the identified architecturalfeatures in a retention data structure. The architectural features mayinclude, for example, furniture. Disclosed embodiments may also includeidentifying equipment in the 2D floor plan located within the identifiedwall boundaries and storing the identified equipment in the retentiondata structure. Architectural features or equipment may be stored inassociation with corresponding identified wall boundaries or identifiedrooms in the retention data structure.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the method may include generatinga building information model, wherein the building information modelincludes the identified wall boundaries. As used herein, a buildinginformation model may include any model depicting a building that mayinclude semantic information and metadata information related to thebuilding and architectural features, elements, systems and equipmentwhich it may contain. A building information model may include a 3Drepresentation of a floorplan or a building. Further, BuildingInformation Modeling (BIM) models may combine geometric, 3D models ofbuilding elements with semantic and functional information regardingthose elements. BIM may be used to generate and manage digitalrepresentation, equivalents or “twins” of real world objects, places andbuildings. In BIM, objects may describe actual architectural elementssuch as walls or doors and can hold a large amount of informationregarding them. For example, a wall element may contain a wall geometry,a physical makeup of a wall (bricks, concrete or gypsum), a finishingtype of a wall, a fire resistance rating of a wall, locations ofopenings in a wall and parametric relationships between the wall andother architectural features. Additionally, abstractions such as floorsand rooms can be supported by BIM software, which may automaticallyidentify enclosed spaces and provide the user with a simple way to storeinformation regarding the spaces.

In some embodiments, a building information model may be generated usinga variety of BIM authoring tools, including Revit, Microstation, Catia,Digital Project, Navis Works, and other software. A BIM authoring toolenables the user to both display and edit any all of the informationcontained in a BIM file. BIM files may be provided in a variety formats.For example, the BIM model may be in an Industry Foundation Classesformat (IFC). The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) data model formatmay describe architectural, building and construction industry data. IFCmay refer to a platform neutral, open file format specification that isnot controlled by a single vendor or group of vendors. IFC may includean object-based file format with a data model developed to facilitateinteroperability in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC)industry. In some cases, IFC may be used as a collaboration format inBuilding information modeling (BIM) based projects. IFC may be used totranslate between different BIM platforms, or to read BIM files outsideof the BIM authoring software. Other formats for BIM models may also beused, including Revit RVT, Microstation DGN, and other file formatssuitable for BIM files.

BIM models may include BIM objects. A BIM object may include acombination of detailed information that defines the product andgeometry that represents the product's physical characteristics in 3Dand 2D. A BIM object may include visualization data that gives an objecta particular appearance (e.g., a color, texture, shape, or other aspectof an appearance). Building Information Modeling (BIM) objects mayinclude a combination of detailed information, attributes, parameters,technical characteristics, geometry and metadata that defines an object(e.g., piece of equipment) and represents the object's physicalcharacteristics in two and/or three dimensions. A BIM object may bedescribed as a “digital twin” or digital equivalent of real worldobjects, architectural features and equipment. For example, a BIM objectmay contain a description, dimension, BIM family classification, modelnumber, a 2D floorplan symbol and a 3D image. A BIM object may includetechnical characteristics such as visualization data that gives theobject a recognizable appearance and behavioral data, such as detectionzones, which enable the object's position to be determined or to behavein exactly the same way as the product itself, for example in asimulation. A BIM object may represent windows, doors, boilers, or anyother equipment, as disclosed herein. An BIM object may indicate aspecific model of equipment, a generic piece of equipment, a family ofequipment, or any level of specificity in between. An object mayrepresent windows, doors, boilers etc. An object may be a specific modelof equipment. An object might be generic and provide informationrelating a family of equipment (a door type).

Referring to the example of FIG. 24A, identified boundaries of the floorplan may then be used to generate a 3D building information model 2415.As described, the building information model may be a 3D visualizationof the rooms of the floor plan. The building information may be createdby giving the walls of the model a certain height, and by “extruding”the walls by the length of the height measurement. As shown by buildinginformation model 2415, a building information model may allow a user tovisualize each room 2417 within a floor plan. Although not depicted inbuilding information model 2415, building information models may includearchitectural features, equipment, semantic designations, and otheradditional information as disclosed herein.

Generating a BIM model may include using wall boundaries identified fromthe floor plan. For example, a 3D BIM model may be generated byassociating wall boundaries with a height and constructing a 3D model ofthe wall boundaries using the height. The height may be indicated withrespect to the scale of the floor plan. For illustration purposes, wallboundaries from the floor plan may be presented in two dimensions (e.g.,x and y axes). A 3D BIM model may be created from the two dimensionalwall boundaries by “extruding” the wall boundaries into a thirddimension (e.g., z axis) to form a three-dimensional model. A depictionof an exemplary 3D model is shown in FIG. 24A, described in greaterdetail below.

A height may be relative to the scale of the floor plan or the scale ofthe floor plan file. For example, some CAD programs are vector basedsoftware, and may not use real world units but rather an abstractioncalled drawing units. Drawing units may differ from real world units inscale. For example, a line in a CAD file which is 10 drawing units longmight represent 10 mm, 10 meters, or ten inches in the real world. Thismay be further complicated when a CAD file is printed, and the paperunits (a mm on paper) needs to be correlated to both the drawing unitsand the real world units. The scale of the CAD file refers to the realworld units a drawing unit represents (e.g., one file may be in meters,another may be in inches). The scale of an image describes the relationbetween sizes on the paper and real world sizes (one mm on paper is 10mm in the real world 1:10). Scaling a CAD file, image, or other 2D floorplan may include to changing this relation. Accordingly, the method mayinclude accessing a rule defining a scale of the 2D floor plan. A BIMmodel may be generated using the scale of the 2D floor plan. In otherembodiments, generating a BIM model may include scaling the 2D floorplan and generating the BIM model using a different scale than the scaleof the accessed rule.

Embodiments may include accessing a rule defining a respective heightfor the identified wall boundaries and updating the retention datastructure based associating the identified wall boundaries with theirrespective wall heights and presenting the building information model ina 3D format. A rule defining a respective height for wall boundaries mayindicate that walls of a building must be of a same height, for example.Alternatively or additionally, a rule defining a respective height mayindicate that walls of different materials should be of differentheights. For example, a rule may indicate that walls made of concreteblock should be eight feet tall, while walls of plaster should be sevenfeet tall, and curtain walls should be nine feet tall. Embodiments mayinclude updating the retention data structure to store the wall heightswith associated wall boundaries. Wall heights may be used to generate orvisualize a 3D BIM model. Presenting a 3D model may include displayingthe model on the display of a computer so that a viewer can view themodel and understand the makeup of the space. This may be achievedusing, for example, pixels, vectors, lines and colored areas. In someembodiments, presenting a 3D model based on the 2D floor plan, mayinclude extruding the lines of the identified walls in the Z directionaccording to a height rule. The extrusion may be colored for ease ofvisualization and displayed according to the angle the 3D model isviewed from.

Disclosed embodiments may include identifying rooms of a 2D floor planor a building information model based on identified wall boundaries. Forexample, wall boundaries that enclose a space and have no other wallboundaries within the space may be identified as a room. Identifyingrooms may be useful for associating other features of a buildinginformation model with a certain area of the model, running a generativeanalysis process or a semantic enrichment process. For example, asdescribed below, architectural features, equipment, and semanticdesignations may be associated with a room of the building informationmodel.

Building information models may also include information relating toarchitectural features of a floor plan. For example, disclosedembodiments may include associating an identified architectural featurewith an object of the building information model. In this context, theassociation may be stored in a data structure, an index, a graphicalrepresentation of a floor plan, a database, or in any other suitablemodality for storing associations between data. The association of theidentified architectural feature with the object of the buildinginformation model may be based on a rule. For example, an architecturalfeature such as a door may be identified, and a rule may indicate thatall doors should be associated with the wall in which they are located.Accordingly, the identified door may be associated with the object ofthe building information model that defines the wall in which the dooris placed. In some embodiments, associating the architectural featurewith an object in the model may include generating the model such thatfeature is depicted in the model. For example, the associating the doorwith the wall's object in the prior example may include placing the doorin the wall on the generated model.

Building information models may also include information relating toequipment within a floor plan. For example, embodiments may includeassociating identified equipment architectural feature with an object ofthe building information model. In this context, the association may bestored in any other suitable modality for storing associations betweendata, as disclosed herein. An association of the identified equipmentwith the object of the building information model may be based on arule. For example, a rule may define that all doors shall be associatedwith a specific BIM object. A rule may indicate, for example, that allappliances should be associated with the room in which they are located.In some embodiments, associating equipment with a BIM object may includeassociation with an existing BIM object which may be accessed in a datastructure, database or BIM authoring tool. In some embodiments, a ruleassociating an identified piece of equipment with a BIM object mayinvolve the creation of a new BIM object based on technicalcharacteristics or other attributes contained in the rule. For example,a exemplary rule may define that all sensors on a plan shall beassociated with a BIM object in the Sensor Family with Model #TCBH, andtechnical characteristics of 6 megapixels and power consumption of 3watts, and dimensions of 6×10×20 CM.

In some embodiments, a user may be able to define portions of a floorplan for which to generate a building information model. For example, aninterface may be provided that enables selection of an area of the 2Dfloor plan. Generation of the building information model may then bebased on the selection. An interface may provide the user a depiction ofthe floor plan, based on the identified wall boundaries. The user maythen be able to select which wall boundaries will be used to generatethe building information model. For example, a floor plan may includeeight rooms, but the user may only wish to see three of the rooms inthree dimensions. Accordingly, the user may select the wall boundariescorresponding to the three rooms and a building information model may begenerated that includes the three selected rooms, but not the five roomsthat were not selected. In some embodiments, a user may use a crop toolto define the selected area of the 2D floorplan.

Disclosed embodiments may include enabling aggregation of a 2D floorplan with one or more additional 2D floor plans into the buildinginformation model. For example, two different 2D floor plans may depicttwo adjacent floors of a building. A building information modelgenerated from the aggregation of the two separate floor plans may bemay depict both floors of the building in relation to each other. Inother words, the building information model may show the second floor ofthe building on top of the first. Each floor of the building maycorrespond to a different level of the building information model. Insome embodiments, the system may enable a user to select a level tovisualize from a plurality of levels contained within the buildinginformation model. For example, a building information model may includetwo adjacent floors of a building. Upon user selection of the firstfloor of the building information model, the second floor may disappearto permit easier viewing of the first floor.

Disclosed embodiments may include receiving functional requirementsassociated with the plurality rooms and generatively analyzing theplurality of rooms in conjunction with the functional requirement toidentify at least one technical specification and at least one equipmentplacement location in order to at least partially conform to thefunctional requirement. For example, based on a functional requirementrelated to light switches, a technical specification for light switchesand location for light switches within rooms of the floor plan may beidentified. Then, the building information model may be generatedincluding the light switches, which may be placed within the modelaccording to the identified locations.

Some embodiments may include performing a semantic enrichment processand adding a semantic designation to at least one room of the pluralityof rooms. For example, several rooms within a floor plan may beidentified. Semantic enrichment may be performed on the rooms togenerate a plurality of semantic designations for the different rooms,such as “bedroom,” “office,” “kitchen” and “closet,” The buildinginformation model may then be generated such that the rooms of the modelare associated with the semantic designations. For example, the modelmay include the semantic designations as labels within the correspondingidentified rooms.

Once a 3D BIM model is generated, disclosed embodiments may includeoutputting the building information model. Outputting may includesaving, exporting, sending, or uploading the model to another location.In some embodiments, outputting may include displaying the model on ascreen. As an example, a BIM model file may be saved to a local storagedevice or exported into a certain file format to be sent to anothercomputer. As described herein, BIM models may be in a variety offormats. For example, the building information model may be saved orexported in an industry foundation classes (IFC) format.

Disclosed embodiments may further include displaying, at an interface, acomparison of at least a portion of a 2D floor plan and the buildinginformation model. A comparison of a 2D floor plan and a buildinginformation model may include displaying both the 2D floor plan and themodel. A 2D floor plan and the building information model may bepositioned such that a 3D model objects “spring” from 2D objects whichrepresented them. For example, the edges of the 3D walls could beexactly aligned with 2D lines representing them. In a 2D view, 3D and 2Drepresentations completely overlap and might be differentiated by color.In a perspective or isometric view, the 3D walls may appear to start in2D lines and grow from them towards the positive “z direction.” Anexample of such a comparison is depicted in FIG. 20, which is describedin greater detail below.

Referring to FIG. 24A, exemplary comparison 2419 may include a buildinginformation model overlaid on top of the floor plan such that the floorplan can be viewed through a model. A building information model may beplaced on the floor plan such that wall 2421 of the building informationmodel is directly atop wall boundary 2423 of the floor plan. Comparison2419 may include furniture 2425, as displayed on a floor plan.

In some embodiments, a comparison of at least a portion of a 2D floorplan and the building information model may include a graphicalindication of the identified wall boundaries. Walls may be graphicallyindicated in many ways, for example, by sets of two parallel lines, bysets of parallel lines with a solid color fill, by parallel lines with ahatched pattern, by a series of details describing their physicalmakeup, or others. In some cases, walls may not be parallel lines, andthen may be represented, by for example, a solid or hatch fill. In somecases, 2D floorplan walls that are absent in the building informationmay be highlighted by means of a different color, shading, pattern, asymbol, textual identifier, or other means of drawing attention to thediscrepancy.

Disclosed embodiments may further include displaying a graphicalrepresentation of the building information model at the interface andenabling pan, tilt, and zooming of the graphical representation of thebuilding information model. Pan tilt and zoom (or pan orbit and zoom)may to standard 3D view manipulations in 3D viewing and editingsoftware. These manipulations may refer to the view as if it originatesfrom a real camera in space. Pan may refer to moving the camera in aplane parallel to the view, zoom may refer to moving the camera fartherand closer from the target, tilt may refer to rotating the camera arounditself, and orbit may refer to rotating the camera around the object. Auser may be able to use these manipulations to change the view of thebuilding information model presented on a screen in order to viewdifferent parts of the model, different angles of the model, zoom in oncertain parts of the model, and so on.

Disclosed embodiments may additionally include receiving, from aninterface, input based on a comparison. As described herein, the systemmay present an interface to the user that permits the user to interactwith the generated building information model. The user may use thatinterface to provide various inputs to change, for example, the model orthe views of the model displayed. The input may be communicated to thesoftware from the interface using, for example, text, a mouse pointer,or a touch sensitive interface. In some embodiments, the input receivedfrom the interface may include at least one of an instruction to deletea wall or an instruction to add a wall. The user may delete or add wallsto change the size or orientation of rooms. As another example, theinput received from the interface may include an instruction to modifyof at least one of wall length or thickness. As another example, theinput received may be to vary the height of a wall, window or door. Asanother example, the input received may be to associate an identifiedarchitectural feature or piece of equipment with a building informationmodel object. As yet another example, the input received from theinterface may include an instruction to execute a floor plan remediationtechnique. Remediation techniques may permit the user to, for example,edit a floor plan to fix errors in the floor plan causing issues withthe building information model. Various remediation techniques aredescribed herein.

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may includearchitectural model and floorplan remediations, which may includeautomatic or semi-automatic processing on an architectural model orfloorplan to prepare for a generative analysis, semantic enrichmentprocess, energy simulation analysis, or other computational analysis.Defined spaces may be missing from a source architectural model or maytoo large, too small, or in an unsuitable grouping for simulationpurposes and automatic identification of spaces may be used to identifysingle architectural spaces, closed or unclosed, for the purpose ofdividing plans into logical units. Spaces may be identified by findingenclosed areas surrounded by boundary walls, windows or door sills, asdescribed herein. In some examples, spaces may be demarcated usingartificial intelligence, image recognition, or Boolean operations on theenclosing elements.

Generally, spatial divisions may be further refined by analyzinggeometrical features such as, for example, corridor openings and doorframes to infer additional dividing elements even when these featuresare not present in the architectural drawing or model. A space thatincludes an elevator lobby and a connecting corridor may be defined as asingle space in a source floorplan when there is no physical separationbetween, for example. However, for the purpose of a simulation to selectequipment, a lobby and a corridor may be split into separate spaces. Asanother example, a door which would normally separate one space fromanother in floorplan may be missing due to an architectural modelingerror or because there is a door frame but no door in an architecturaldesign.

More generally, a geometric algorithm may be used to refine spatialdivisions by, for example, connecting pairs of points in a floor plan toclose gaps between two spaces. Such points may be part of a concave orconvex bump, for example. Pairs may be selected which are the closestbump points from a same polygon on a floor plan or a different polygon.Pairs which pass criteria may be selected to close gaps. Criteria mayspecify width, length, skew angle, exit angle, orientation, or othergeometric features of pairs of points in relation to other features of afloor plan. Further, a geometric algorithm may be used to automaticallyseparate and demarcate two or more spaces when such separations are notpresent in the original architectural floorplan.

Embodiments may include using a geometric algorithm or artificialintelligence to automatically identify and remove gridlines, equipment,furniture, or other elements on a floorplan to improve generativeanalysis outcomes (e.g., to improve simulation performance).Additionally or alternatively, an algorithm may be configured to removeduplicate spaces to improve generative analysis outcomes. As an example,an algorithm may filter spaces inside a BIM file based on area of thespaces (e.g., removing spaces with areas smaller than a threshold).Spaces may be removed for areas that contain a self-intersection or lessthan 2 boundary points. Further, an algorithm may check forintersections or overlapping of spaces, including containment of onespace by another. As an example, containment checks may consider theheight of the space. An overlapping space may be removed from a BIM fileaccording to a rule (e.g., the largest space that overlaps another spacemay be removed, or spaces may be removed to generate a set of uniquespaces that covers all areas of a floorplan).

Disclosed embodiments may include updating a retention data structurebased on an input. For example, the input may include instructions toadd, delete, move or extend individual walls within the model. Theretention data structure may be updated to account for these changes inthe wall boundaries of the model. As another example, the retention datastructure may be updated when the input relates to adding, removing,modifying or splitting entire rooms. In some embodiments, updating theretention data structure may include updating the architectural featuresor equipment associated with rooms, based on the input. For example, aninput may include directions to move a door or add a new door in a wallof the building information. The retention data structure may then beupdated to associate the wall's boundary data with the new door locationor the new door.

FIG. 24B is an illustration depicting an exemplary geometric analysis ona floor plan. Geometric analysis may begin by accessing a floor plan2431. Then, the geometric analysis method may identify parallel lines onthe floor plan as wall candidates 2433. For example, as shown in floorplan illustration 2433, identifying wall candidates may includehighlighting the walls candidates on the floor plan by, for example,bolding or increasing the weight of the lines corresponding to thecandidate walls. In some embodiments, candidate walls may be identifiedby determining parallel lines that are less than a threshold length onthe floor plan. A geometric analysis may also include identifying90-degree circular arcs, that touch lines of the same size, as doorcandidates 2435. For example, the 90-degree arc may represent the swingpath of a door. As shown in floor plan illustration 2435, identifyingdoor candidates may include placing a circle around or otherwisehighlighting the candidate doors on the floor plan. A geometric analysismay also include identify lines on the floor plan as grid candidates. Asshown, a floor plan 2431 may include long grid lines that do notrepresent a physical part of the building within in the floor plan.Geometric analysis may include identifying grid line candidates topermit differentiation between grid lines and walls of the floor plan.In some embodiments, candidate grid lines may be identified bydetermining single lines that are great than a threshold length on thefloor plan. As shown in floor plan illustration 2437, identifying wallcandidates may include highlighting the walls candidates on the floorplan by, for example bolding or increasing the weight of the linescorresponding to the candidate walls.

FIG. 24C is an illustration depicting an exemplary geometric analysisfor detecting doors and sills. A sill may refer to an opening in a wallidentifying the space that would be occupied by a closed door. Thegeometric analysis may begin by accessing a floor plan 2439. Geometricanalysis for sill and door detection may include detecting doors on thefloor plan 2441. Doors may be detected by, for example, a geometricanalysis, as described herein. The geometric analysis of FIG. 24C mayinclude detecting two sides of the 90-degree arc symbol that representsthe door on the floor plan. In illustration 2443, the sides of the doorarc are shown as double-sided arrows. The sides of the arc may be thelegs of the 90-degree angle formed by the circular 90-degree arc of thedoor symbol. In other words, the sides of the arc and the arc togethermay form one quarter of a circle. The two detected sides of the arc maybe identified as sill candidates. The geometric analysis may includechecking the sill candidates for intersection with walls. For example,one sill candidate may be parallel to the wall in which the door islocated, and the other sill candidate may perpendicularly intersect thewall. The geometric analysis may include choosing the sill candidatethat successfully continues the wall. In other words, a sill candidatethat is parallel to the wall may be chosen as the sill for thecorresponding door because it completes the wall segment rather thanintersects the wall segment. In some embodiments, the geometric analysismay include identifying multiple sills throughout the accessed floorplan. As shown in illustration 2449, the identifying sills may includehighlighted the sills on the floor plan using, for example, a linedemarcating the sill within the wall.

FIG. 24D is an illustration depicting an exemplary machine learning dooranalysis. Machine learning door analysis may be used to identify doorswithin a floor plan, as described herein. Machine learning door analysismay include training a machine learning detection or classificationmodel 2459 to detect doors of a floor plan using a training data set2451. Training set 2451 may include two sets of floor plans. The firstset of floor plans may be natural drawings 2453. Natural drawings 2453may be original floor plans without any specific demarcation of doors,outside of the door symbols therein. As a nonlimiting example, naturaldrawings 2477 may be scans of previously created floor plans or flatPDFs of floor plans. The second set of floor plans in training set 2451may include floor plans with tagged doors 2455. Tagged doors 2455 maybe, for example, identified manually or using a different analysisalgorithm. The training data set 2451 may be used to train a machinelearning detection or classification model 2459. Once machine learningdetection or classification model 2459 is trained, it may receive aninput natural drawing 2457. The input natural drawing 2457 may be adrawing for which a user wishes to have doors detected. After receivingthe input natural drawing 2457, machine learning detection orclassification model 2459 may detect and demarcate doors of the floorplan by one or more of the various methods described herein. In someembodiments, as shown in floor plan illustration 2461, machine learningdoor analysis may include highlighting the detected doors by, forexample, placing a black square over the doors or otherwise demarcatingthe doors on the floor plan.

FIG. 24E is an illustration depicting an exemplary machine learningwalls analysis. Machine learning walls analysis may be used to identifywalls within a floor plan, as described herein. Machine learning wallsanalysis may include training a machine learning segmentation model 2471to detect walls of a floor plan using a training data set 2463. Trainingset 2463 may include two sets of floor plans. The first set of floorplans may be natural drawings 2465. Natural drawings 2465 may beoriginal floor plans without any specific demarcation of walls. Thesecond set of floor plans in training set 2463 may include floor planswith tagged wall segmentations 2467. Tagged walls 2467 may be, forexample, identified manually or using a different analysis algorithm.The training data set 2463 may be used to train a machine learningsegmentation model 2471. Once machine learning segmentation model 2471is trained, it may receive an input natural drawing 2469. The inputnatural drawing 2469 may be a drawing for which a user wishes to havewalls detected. After receiving the input natural drawing 2469, machinelearning segmentation model 2471 may detect and demarcate wall segmentsof the floor plan by one or more of the various methods describedherein. In some embodiments, as shown in floor plan illustration 2473,machine learning wall analysis may include highlighting the detectedwall segments by, for example, providing a reproduction of the floorplan including only the detected wall segments.

FIG. 24F is an illustration depicting an exemplary machine learningfurniture analysis. Machine learning furniture analysis may be used toidentify furniture within a floor plan, as described herein. Machinelearning furniture analysis may include training a machine learningdetection or classification model 2481 to detect furniture of a floorplan using a training data set 2475. Training set 2475 may include twosets of floor plans. The first set of floor plans may be naturaldrawings 2477. Natural drawings 2477 may be original floor plans withoutany specific demarcation of furniture, outside of the furniture symbolstherein. As a nonlimiting example, natural drawings 2477 may be scans ofpreviously created floor plans or flat PDFs of floor plans. The secondset of floor plans in training set 2475 may include floor plans withtagged doors 2479. Tagged doors 2479 may be, for example, identifiedmanually or using a different analysis algorithm. The training data set2475 may be used to train a machine learning detection or classificationmodel 2481. Once machine learning detection or classification model 2481is trained, it may receive an input natural drawing 2483. The inputnatural drawing 2457 may be a drawing for which a user wishes to havefurniture detected. After receiving the input natural drawing 2483,machine learning detection or classification model 2481 may detect anddemarcate furniture of the floor plan by one or more of the variousmethods described herein. In some embodiments, as shown in floor planillustration 2485, machine learning door analysis may includehighlighting the detected furniture, for example, placing a squarearound furniture item and including a semantic designation for thefurniture near the square.

FIG. 24G is an illustration depicting an exemplary machine learning roomanalysis. Machine learning room analysis may be used to identify roomswithin a floor plan, and may include training a machine learningsegmentation model 2493 to detect rooms of a floor plan using a trainingdata set 2487. Training set 2487 may include two sets of floor plans.The first set of floor plans may be natural drawings 2489. Naturaldrawings 2489 may be original floor plans without any specificdemarcation of rooms. In some embodiments, natural drawings 2489, asillustrated in FIG. 24E, may include wall demarcations. The second setof floor plans in training set 2487 may include floor plans with taggedrooms 2491. Tagged rooms 2491 may be, for example, identified manuallyor using a different analysis algorithm. The training data set 2487 maybe used to train a machine learning segmentation model 2493. Oncemachine learning segmentation model 2493 is trained, it may receive aninput natural drawing 2495. The input natural drawing 2495 may be adrawing for which a user wishes to have rooms detected. After receivingthe input natural drawing 2495, machine learning segmentation model 2493may detect and demarcate rooms of the floor plan by one or more of thevarious methods described herein. In some embodiments, as shown in floorplan illustration 2497, machine learning room analysis may includehighlighting the detected rooms by, for example, shading the area of thefloor plan corresponding to the detected room. The shading of rooms infloor plan illustration 2497 may be done using a flood fill algorithm,as described above.

FIG. 25A is an illustration depicting an exemplary process for addingidentified features and equipment associated with BIM objects to abuilding information model, consistent with disclosed embodiments.Associating features with BIM objects may include accessing a floor plan2501. The features of the floor plan may then be identified by usingmachine learning methods, as disclosed herein. For example, a machinelearning algorithm may be used to identify furniture within the floorplan. As depicted in illustration 2503, identifying features may includedemarcating or highlighting the features on the floor plan by, forexample, placing a box around them, with a semantic designation. At2505, the identified features on the floorplan may be associated withBIM objects. In some embodiments, this may be based on a rule, asdescribed above. The associations may also be stored in a data structurethat identifies the feature and the room in which it is located. As anexample, as shown in illustration 2505, a table may be formed thatincludes a reference to each room of the floor plan, and includes areference to each type of furniture within the floor plan, as well as aquantity of each of type of furniture.

FIG. 25B is an illustration depicting an exemplary process for addingidentified features and equipment associated with BIM objects to abuilding information model, consistent with disclosed embodiments.Adding the features to the building information model may includeaccessing a floor plan 2507. The features of the floor plan may then beidentified by using machine learning methods, as disclosed herein. Forexample, a machine learning algorithm may be used to identify furniturewithin the floor plan. As depicted in illustration 2509, identifyingfeatures may include demarcating or highlighting the features on thefloor plan by, for example, placing a box around them, with a semanticdesignation. At 2511, the identified features may be associated with BIMobjects by a user, as described above. At 2513, a user may apply a ruleto identified features to, for example, change the type of BIM objectsassociated with a certain type or class of feature, or associatefeatures that were not previously associated with BIM objects by theuser. The BIM objects may then be updated, based on the user changes,and may stored in a data structure. Updating the BIM objects and storingthem may also include updating the building information model to includethe updated BIM objects, as depicted by illustration 2515.

FIG. 25C is an illustration depicting exemplary user input for updatinga retention data structure, consistent with disclosed embodiments. Asdescribed above, a building information model may be presented to a userin an interface. The user may use the interface to edit the buildinginformation model. The retention data structure may then be updatedaccordingly. For example, as depicted by illustration 2517, a user mayadd a room to a building information model by selecting the room or acontour of the room on the floor plan. The building information modelmay then be updated to include a 3D representation of the room. Theretention data structure may also be updated to include datacorresponding to this room. As shown in illustration 2519, user may alsoselect an existing room in the building information model to delete theroom and remove it from the model. In the event a user deletes a room,the retention data structure may also be updated to account for thisremoved room. Similarly, as described above, a user may move an existingwall in a building information model. For example, as shown byillustration 2521, a user may select a wall of the building informationmodel and, for example, drag the wall out to increase its length. Thedata retention structure may then be updated to account for thisincrease in the length of the wall. As also shown in illustration 2521,the retention data structure may be updated such that other wallsrelated to the moved wall are also updated so as to increase the size ofthe room defined by the moved wall.

FIG. 25D is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 2530 forextracting data from a 2D floor plan and retaining it in a buildinginformation model, consistent with disclosed embodiments. Process 2530may be performed by a processing device, such as any of the processorsdescribed throughout the present disclosure. It is to be understood thatthroughout the present disclosure, the term “processor” is used as ashorthand for “at least one processor.” In other words, a processor mayinclude one or more structures that perform logic operations whethersuch structures are collocated, connected, or disbursed. In someembodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may containinstructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor toperform process 2530. Process 2530 is not necessarily limited to thesteps shown in FIG. 21 and any steps or processes of the variousembodiments described throughout the present disclosure may also beincluded in process 2530.

At step 2531, process 2530 may include accessing a floor plandemarcating a plurality of rooms. As described herein, floor plans maybe accessed in a variety of formats and may include other informationassociated with the spaces within the floor plan. A floor plan may beaccessed in a variety of ways including from a network location, a cloudstorage, local storage, or other types of access as described herein. Insome embodiments, floor plans may include or reference furniture orother architectural features.

At step 2533, process 2530 may include performing identifying, using amachine learning method, wall boundaries of the plurality of rooms. Asdescribed herein, a variety of machine learning methods may be used andvariety of types of analysis may be conducted to identify wallboundaries. In some embodiments, step 2533 may also include identifyingother features of a floor plan, such as architectural features andequipment.

At step 2535, process 2530 may include storing the identified wallboundaries in a retention data structure. As described herein, the wallboundaries may be stored in a variety ways. In some embodiments, step2015 may include storing identified architectural features and equipmentin the retention data structure.

At step 2537, process 2530 may include generating a building informationmodel, wherein the building information model includes the identifiedwall boundaries. As disclosed herein, building information model mayprovided in a variety of formats. The building information model maycombine geometric, 3D models of building elements with semantic,functional information regarding those elements. A building informationmodel may be generated using wall boundaries identified from the floorplan. For example, a 3D BIM model may be generated by associating wallboundaries with a height and constructing a 3D model of the wallboundaries using the height. The height may be indicated with respect tothe scale of the floor plan. Step 2537 may include accessing a ruledefining a scale of a 2D floor plan, which may be used to generate thebuilding information model.

In some embodiments, step 2537 may include accessing a rule defining arespective height for the identified wall boundaries and updating theretention data structure based associating the identified wallboundaries with their respective wall heights and visualizing thebuilding information model in a 3D format. The building informationmodel may be generated using the rule defining the height for the wallboundaries. Disclosed embodiments may include enabling the aggregationof a 2D floor plan with one or more additional 2D floor plans into thebuilding information model in step 2537. For example, a buildinginformation model generated from the aggregation of the two separatefloor plans may depict both floors of the building in relation to eachother. In other words, the building information model may show thesecond floor of the building on top of the first. Step 2537 may alsoinclude outputting the building information model, as described herein.

At step 2539, process 2530 may include displaying, at an interface, acomparison of at least a portion of a 2D floor plan and the buildinginformation model. As described, a comparison of a 2D floor plan and abuilding information model may include displaying both the 2D floor planand the model. Step 2539 may also include displaying a graphicalrepresentation of the building information model at the interface andenabling pan, tilt, and zooming of the graphical representation of thebuilding information model, as described.

At step 2541, process 2530 may include receiving, from the interface,input based on the comparison. As described herein, the system maypresent an interface to the user that permits the user to interact withthe generated building information model. The user may use thatinterface to provide various inputs to change, for example, the model orthe views of the model displayed.

At step 2543, process 2530 may include updating the retention datastructure based on the input. For example, the input may includeinstructions to edit various aspects of the building information modelor floor plan. As described, the retention data structure may be updatedto account for these changes in the wall boundaries of the model.

In accordance with the present disclosure, systems, methods, andcomputer readable media may be provided for selecting equipment modelsand optimizing placement of equipment. Selecting equipment models mayrefer to a process of choosing and locating equipment in a floor plan inorder to identify an equipment model that at least partially conforms toa functional requirement. Optimizing placement of equipment may includeadjusting the location of equipment in order to increase conformity witha functional requirement.

The disclosed embodiments may include accessing a floor plan demarcatinga plurality of rooms, as disclosed herein. For example, a floor plan maybe accessed by receiving a digital, textual, hand draw, hard copy,photographic, or any other representation of a floor plan as stored in adata structure. The floor plan may include a room demarcation indicatingthe location of a room in a plan in relation to the rest of the plan.More generally, a room demarcation may include information relating to afloor plan that may indicate the location of a room in a plan inrelation to the rest of the plan. It may also include the boundaries(i.e., contours) of the room. Boundaries may include the objects, realor imaginary, that provide borders of the room, including walls orwindows that surround a room. Openings associated with the room'sborders may be included in room contours (e.g., doors or window leadingin and out of the room). Demarcating a room may include contoursdefining equipment locations or the locations of architectural features,including columns, beams, furniture, or other objects contained in theroom.

As a non-limiting example, FIG. 26 depicts schematic illustrations 2600,2602, 2604, 2606, and 2608 of an exemplary floor plan, with roomdemarcations 2601 indicating the locations of room 2603 and doorsleading into that room. In the example, doors are represented as theytraditionally are in floor plans, with the door's swing path expressedas a curve.

In some embodiments a floor plan may include a plurality of equipmentsymbols. Equipment symbols may include graphical symbols and/or buildinginformation modeling (BIM) objects used to represent equipment on afloor plan as depicted in two or three dimensions. For example, anequipment symbol may denote a lighting fixture, a sensor, or any otherequipment. The symbols may mimic the shape of the represented equipmentor assume an abstract representation. For example, a camera might berepresented as a rectangle, a circle, a square, a square with an Xinside, or as any other combination of shapes and/or characters. Thesymbol may also include a text element. A symbol may be represented as aseparate CAD entity (block or group) or as lines on the drawing or as aBIM object which may include a 2D or 3D representation of the BIM objecton the floorplan along with parameters, attributes, metadata, or otherobject data associated with piece of equipment it represents. Theseobject data may be contained in a list, index or data structure A legendmay be provided to represent the association between the equipment andthe symbol. In some instances, a symbol may have different meanings indifferent floor plans. For example, a circle might represent a camera inone plan and a lighting fixture in another. Generally, a symbol will beused consistently within a single plan, referring to a single type ofequipment. A symbol may additionally refer to an equipment family (e.g.,lighting fixture), a more specific type of equipment (e.g., pendantlighting fixture), a series of pieces equipment, or a specific equipmentmodel. An equipment family may refer to a set of pieces of equipmentsharing a common, purpose, function, style, size, shape, denominator, orother common characteristic. The sets may be large and inclusive, suchas sensors, network devices, or power supplies. Or the sets may besmaller and more specific, such as IR motion sensors, WIFI accesspoints, and Uninterruptible Power Devices. Equipment symbols may beassigned according to CAD or BIM authoring software, drafter preference,BIM object database, or based on an accepted standard publishedelsewhere. A drafter may include an architect, an engineer, aconsultant, a draftsperson, BIM modeler, any person using CAD softwareto depict geometry, or any person using Building Information Modelingsoftware to depict to depict BIM objects. By way of example, FIG. 26depicts exemplary floor plans 2602, 2604, and 2606, 2608 with equipmentsymbols 2605 and 2607.

In some examples, an equipment symbol may be a BIM object. In otherexamples, an equipment symbol may be contained within or may beassociated with a BIM object. BIM objects may include a combination ofdetailed information, attributes, parameters, technical characteristics,geometry and metadata that defines an object (e.g., piece of equipment)and represents the object's physical characteristics in two and/or threedimensions. A BIM object may be described as a “digital twin” or digitalequivalent of real world objects, architectural features and equipment.For example, a BIM object may contain a description, dimension, BIMfamily classification, model number, a 2D floorplan symbol and a 3Dimage. A BIM object may include technical characteristics such asvisualization data that gives the object a recognizable appearance andbehavioral data, such as detection zones, which enable the object'sposition to be determined or to behave in exactly the same way as theproduct itself, for example in a simulation. A BIM object may representwindows, doors, boilers, or any other equipment, as disclosed herein. ABIM object may indicate a specific model of equipment, a generic pieceof equipment, a family of equipment, or any level of specificity inbetween.

Embodiments may include enabling a user to select an equipment symbolfor analysis. For example, a user may be presented with a graphical userinterface on a physical or virtual display that enables the user toselect an equipment symbol or multiple equipment symbols by touching,clicking on, drawing a rectangular section box around, marking, orotherwise designating an equipment symbol or multiple equipment symbols(any or all of which may be considered “selecting”). The user mayprovide, via such a graphical user interface, information selecting anequipment symbol or multiple equipment symbols. Selecting may alsoinclude storing a designation in a data structure, index, or database,for example. In another example, a user may be presented with agraphical user interface enabling a user to access a list of equipmentsymbols and select a plurality of equipment symbols from a list foranalysis. For example, a user may select a BIM object (e.g. lightfixture) for analysis from a list, index, or database. The list ofequipment may include equipment symbols that appear within a floor plan,equipment symbols absent from a floor plan, or any combination thereof.The user may be enabled to select an equipment symbol, multipleequipment symbols, an equipment family, a series of equipment, anequipment model, or any combination thereof. By way of example, FIG. 26depicts an exemplary floor plan 2602 receiving user input 2609.

In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be furtherconfigured to enable specification of an equipment model for selectedinstances of equipment symbols. For example, a graphical user interfacemay enable the user to provide or otherwise indicate an equipment modelto be associated with the selected instances of the equipment symbols.Associating equipment models with equipment symbols may refer tocreating a logical link between a symbol displayed in a floor plan, forexample, a CAD plan or BIM plan, or a real equipment model. After thelink is created between the equipment symbol and an equipment model, thelink may be expanded to include all of the identical equipment symbolsin the drawing, linking them all to the same equipment model. To expandthe selection in this way may require semantic, geometric, image, or MLprocessing in order to detect similarities and group the symbols. Aftera symbol is associated, a processor may be configured to count thenumber of occurrences of the symbol, determine their locations, orperform operations with the locations of the equipment symbol as aninput.

A selected equipment symbol analysis may be or may be associated with aBIM object containing a first model. A selected equipment symbol may becontained within or represent a part of a BIM object. The first modelmay be a BIM object representing a particular piece of equipment orcategory of equipment, as disclosed herein. For example, the first modelmay be a BIM object representing a light fixture, a camera, a sensor, orother equipment. In this context, an equipment symbol may be associatedwith a BIM object or with the first model in an index, data base, orother data structure. In some cases, the BIM object itself may contain arepresentation of the symbol. Further, in some embodiments, a generativeanalysis process may include determining that a second model wouldachieve higher conformance with a functional requirement, and, as aresult, a processor may associate the second model with the equipmentsymbol based on the determination. The system may then update a floorplan to include information indicating a selection of the second model.Additionally or alternatively, at an interface, a system may display aprompt querying acceptance of the selected second model's associationwith the selected equipment symbol. Further, acceptance may be receivedas a user input.

Disclosed embodiments may include parsing a floor plan to identifyinstances of a selected equipment symbol. As described, floor plans maybe unstructured, and by parsing a floor plan, the embodiments providestructured information to facilitate equipment selection. Parsing afloor plan may include at least one of a geometric analysis, a semanticanalysis, an image analysis, artificial intelligence methods, or anyother analysis, as disclosed herein. Disclosed embodiments may includeusing a machine learning detection model such as ResNet trained toidentify a plurality of equipment symbols. Disclosed embodiments mayinclude parsing a data structure, list, database, or index. A floorplan, such as BIM floorplan, for example, may be structured orsemi-structured, and contain BIM objects which may associated withattributes, metadata and semantic information. The BIM file may beinterrogated, and semantic analysis may be used, for example, toidentify instances of the BIM object. For example, a user may bepresented with a graphical user interface on a physical or virtualdisplay that enables the user to select an equipment symbol or multipleequipment symbols, as discloser herein. The system may then parse,analyze, or otherwise search a floor plan to identify, list, count,indicate, or store instances of the selected equipment symbol ormultiple equipment symbols. The system may identify, list, count,indicate, or store instances a selected equipment symbol or multipleequipment symbols visually on a floor plan or provide a separategraphical user interface, as disclosed herein. In the example of FIG. 26the user's selection 2609 of equipment symbol 2605 at location 2611 amay then cause other instances of equipment symbol 2605 to be identifiedon exemplary floor plan 2604 at locations 2611 b, 2611 c, and 2611 d.

Disclosed embodiments may include parsing a floor plan to identifystructural elements, including walls. In this context, structuralelements may include ceilings, windows, doors, walls, railings, columns,beams, equipment, or any other physical detail. Identifying structuralelements may include identifying boundaries of the elements. By way ofexample, FIG. 26 depicts floor plan 2606 with wall 2613 identified (asrepresented by bold lines) after parsing a floor plan.

Embodiments may include accessing functional requirements for a set ofrooms in a plurality of rooms containing instances of selected equipmentsymbols. This may occur when a functional requirement is stored inmemory, such as a data structure, and the system accesses the functionalrequirement for application to a floor plan. In some embodiments a setof functional requirements may be defined and stored for a project, andthe system might simultaneously run the functional requirements againsta floor plan, defining all instances of the selected equipment symbolsin a common process. In some embodiments accessing functionalrequirements may be based on user input. For example, a user may accessstored functional requirements via a user interface and select thoserequirements which correspond to a plurality of rooms. As anotherexample, a user may select rooms, and a system may retrieve functionalrequirements for those rooms based on the selection.

Disclosed embodiments may include accessing equipment technicalspecifications to identify equipment technical specifications associatedwith functional requirements. Accessing in this context may involveretrieving a technical specification from memory, such as in a datastructure. The technical specifications may be accessed based on storedassociations between the technical specifications and functionalrequirements. For example, functional requirements to provide sensorcoverage may be associated in memory with technical specifications thatindicate a sensitivity or a range of a sensor. In some cases, afunctional requirement and a technical specification may be associatedbased on a logical rule or a machine learning model which indicates thatthe specification provides information that relates to an equipment'sability to satisfy the functional requirement. In some embodimentsaccessing equipment technical specifications may be based on user input.

Disclosed embodiments may include performing a generative analysis onidentified equipment technical specifications within identified walls ofeach room in a set of rooms to select an equipment model that at leastpartially conforms to functional requirements. An equipment model mayinclude a specific brand, manufacturer, series, model number and ordercode. In some situations it may not be possible to completely conform toa functional requirement, In such instances, the generative analysismight partially conform, meaning that, for example, equipment locations,technical specifications and/or technical characteristics might onlypartially fulfill functional requirements. For example, a camera maycover only 80% of the room with a required resolution, a lightingfixture may only provide 70% of the required lux level, an HVACequipment unit may only provide 95% of the required airflow, and/or anelectrical panel may meet 90% of a room's power requirements. This mayoccur as the result of the realities of a design or the realities ofavailable or selected equipment. For example, in a small bathroom, itmay not be possible to locate an electrical outlet at least four feetfrom a door and at least four feet from a sink. Only one or the othermight be achievable. The system might evaluate both options (e.g., agenerative analysis where more than one option is considered) and selecta solution that gets closest to achieving the conflictingspecifications. Or a technical specification for an amount of airflowthrough a space might not be achievable by the available or selectedequipment. Generative analysis might be used to check different ventlocations and available equipment to select the combination that getsclosest to achieving the functional requirement. A generative analysisprocess may further include optimizing a parameter of a specifiedequipment model. Optimizing in this context may include maximizing aconformity to functional requirements provided for a room or set ofrooms. For example, optimizing parameters for a camera may identifyvalues for vertical or horizontal lens rotation, focal length, ormounting height which maximize coverage of a room according to afunctional requirement. As another example, the resolution of a sensormay be set to a level which achieves conformance with the functionalrequirement with the minimal amount of network bandwidth. In additionalembodiments, a generative analysis process may include selectingauxiliary equipment. For example, a system may select equipment thatcontributes to the function, installation, or operation of a primarypiece of equipment, as disclosed herein. FIG. 26 depicts an exemplaryfloor plan 2608 with selected equipment 2615, 2617, 2619, and 2621.

In some embodiments the generative analysis process may consider asemantic designation of a room in a set of rooms. A semantic designationmay refer to any form of classification of a room according to a fixedschema, as disclosed herein. For example, the generative analysisprocess may consider a semantic designation of a room in a set or roomswhen selecting an equipment model that at least partially conforms tofunctional requirements of that room. For example, a generative analysisprocess may select a Wi-Fi access point model located in space having asemantic designation indicating it is an open space office with highercapacity for concurrent users than a one indicating it is residentialbedroom.

In some embodiments, the generative analysis process may consider anarchitectural feature of a room in a set of rooms. For example, thesystem may analyze data associated with the architectural features ofone or more rooms and then automatically select a piece of equipment andits placement that conforms to the functional requirement. Architecturalfeatures that might impact such analyses may include ceiling height,lines of sight, window, door, railing, column or furniture location,area, furniture type, locations of other pieces of equipment specified,or any other physical detail. For example, a generative analysis processmay select a light fixture with a shallow depth in order to fit withinthe available space of a dropped or suspended ceiling. As anotherexample, a generative analysis process may select an access controldevice with a weatherproof IP rating for an open-air parking garage.

The generative analysis may include selecting different equipment modelsfor the same equipment symbol in a plurality of rooms. For example,different equipment models may be selected based on an extent to whichthe different equipment models conform to respective functionalrequirements of the plurality of rooms.

By way of example, FIG. 26 illustrates an example floor plan 2608depicting selected equipment 2615, 2617, 2619, and 2621, allcorresponding to the same selected equipment symbol 2611. In thisexample, the selected equipment symbol 2611 represents a camera andperforming generative analysis selected three different camera models,Model A, Model B, and Model C for the same equipment symbol in multiplerooms within floor plan 2608. This may have occurred through generativeanalysis which determined that although the camera symbols wereidentical, in order to meet the functional requirements in each room, adifferent camera model for each was required.

Disclosed embodiments may include updating the floor plan by associatinga selected equipment model with instances of selected equipment symbols.For example, a graphical user interface may indicate or display anassociation between a selected equipment model and selected instances ofthe equipment symbols. In some embodiments, associating a selectedequipment model with a selected equipment symbol may include associatinga Building Information Modeling object reflecting the selected equipmentmodel with the equipment symbol. For example, the association between aBIM object and the equipment symbol may be stored in a data structure. ABIM object may be associated with instances of the equipment symbolappearing in a display of a floor plan to enable users to interact withthe BIM object (e.g., move the object, retrieve technical specificationsand metadata associated with the object). As another example, a BIMobject may be updated to include a representation or label associatedwith the equipment symbol. As another example, a BIM object'sproperties, attributes, metadata and technical characteristic may beupdated to reflect those of the selected equipment model.

In some embodiments, associating a BIM object may override another BIMobject previously associated with a symbol. For example, a BIM objectmay have been previously associated with a selected equipment symbolmanually or as part of a previous generative analysis. Therefore, whenanother equipment symbol is selected, and the generative analysisrepeated, the BIM object may be associated with a different equipmentsymbol based on the more recently selected equipment symbol.

Disclosed embodiments may include outputting a bill of material based onthe updated floor plan. For example, the system may determine the numberof instances of an equipment symbol associated with an equipment modelin the updated floor plan and output a bill of material. A bill ofmaterial, also referred to as a materials list or bill of quantities,may include a list describing the primary, secondary, and auxiliaryequipment required to physically construct a building system. A bill ofmaterial may be a list of equipment models and may or may not includethe specific model, the quantity used, price information, specificproperties, and a physical description. A bill of material may includein image or other representation of the equipment, and may be displayedon the screen or exported to a textual (e.g., word), tabular (e.g.,excel) or image (e.g., jpg or pdf) format. A bill of material mayfurther be electronically transmitted by email or via the internet tothird-party software, enterprise resource planning systems, CRM system,construction management tool, or any other destination for further use(e.g., purchasing) or processing. As a nonlimiting example, FIG. 26depicts an exemplary bill of material 2610 as a list of camera models2623 and an associated quantity 2625.

Disclosed embodiments may include updating a floor plan by modifying atleast one of quantity or location of an instance of selected equipmentsymbols in order to improve compliance with functional requirements. Insystem design, there is a need to select the right equipment to meetfunctional requirements of a room. Flexible approaches that allow forchanges to floor plans to improve performance can address this need. Forexample, it may be desirable that a light fixture provide enough lightand/or provide light in a particular color-temperature. If so, a floorplan may be modified to meet such light requirements. Further,compliance with a functional requirement may include consideringpurchase or operational costs of selected equipment, and a floor planmay be modified to select alternative equipment that conform to suchcost constraints.

Modifying the quantity of selected equipment symbols may include anycombination of adding, deleting, and moving equipment items in the floorplan. Modifying a location of a selected equipment symbol in a floorplan may include altering geometries associated with the equipmentsymbol in a way that an equipment model remains fixed but its relationto the rest of the geometry in the floor plan is altered. The modifiedlocation may be in any direction. A location may be expressed as achange in X, Y, or Z coordinates. The user may modify equipment locationvia input to a graphical user interface such as a mouse, a touchinterface, or textual input device. After the equipment is moved, thefloor plan depicting the equipment location may be updated to reflectthe change and stored in memory, such as a database. For example, in afloor plan of a room with four light fixtures that exceed a functionalspecification, updating the floor plan may include deleting or movingone or more of the fixtures. In a room with uneven distribution oflight, updating the floor plan may include rearranging the fixtures oradding a fixture.

Embodiments may include enabling a user to define a maximum allowedmodification variance in at least one of a quantity or a location ofselected equipment symbols. When equipment locations or quantities arechanged by an automated process, the system may determine or a user mayprovide a maximum allowable variance. For example, a maximum variancemay include a maximum amount of change permitted when moving equipment.The maximum may be expressed as a measurement or in X, Y or Zcoordinates. Additionally or alternatively, a maximum allowedmodification variance in a quantity of the selected equipment symbolsmay be expressed as a maximum absolute or relative increase or decreasein the number of equipment symbol instances. A maximum may be receivedfrom a user or retrieved from memory (e.g., retrieving a default value).The maximum may serve as a limit when performing the automated processassociated with updating or optimizing equipment placement in a floorplan.

Disclosed embodiments may include prompting a user to accept at leastone location modification of one of the instances of selected equipmentsymbols. In this context, prompting a user may include asking a user forpermission to perform an action or ratification of a performed action.For example, in the case of an application of a functional requirementto set of rooms with a certain functional requirement (Function “X”)previously designated with Function “Y” prior to a semantic enrichmentprocess, a prompt may be provide to the user via a graphical userinterface, alerting the user to accept the change. The prompt may be inthe form of a pop-up, a modal, or other element of a graphical userinterface. The prompt may be textual (e.g., “Room A originally hadFunction Y, are you sure you want to apply the functional requirementassociated with Function X?”), or graphical (e.g. a color indicatingacceptance is required). In the case of moving equipment, a prompt maybe provided to allow the user to accept or reject a change to theautomatically suggested move. The prompt may provide the originalequipment location and the updated equipment location.

Disclosed embodiments may include identifying at least two equipmentmodels for a given equipment symbol which at least partially conforms toa use selection. For example, the system may receive a selection of adesired use for a given equipment symbol and determine two or moreequipment models which at least partially conform to the desired use.The two or more equipment models may be provided as a prompt or in abill of materials, as disclosed herein.

Additional embodiments may select compatible auxiliary equipment for aselected equipment model. For example, the system may receive aselection of an equipment model and select auxiliary equipment that isnecessary or compatible with the selected equipment model. For example,if the selected equipment is a light fixture, auxiliary equipment mayinclude a compatible light bulb or a light switch, such as a lightswitch with dimming capabilities.

Disclosed embodiments may include generating a wiring diagram. A wiringdiagram, in this context, may be optimized to include the shortest pathsbetween points on the floor plan. A wiring diagram may be generatedusing one of several optional typologies, as described herein.

Disclosed embodiments may include performing a floor plan analysis on afloor plan to identify room contours of a plurality of demarcated rooms.For example, floor plan analysis may be used on a floor plan to identifythe room contours of one or more previously demarcated rooms. Roomcontours may include boundaries of a room that constitute the boardersof the room, as disclosed herein. Floor plan analysis may include imageanalysis, semantic analysis, or geometric metric analysis, alone or incombination. It may include but is not limited to extracting informationabout the floor plan from a BIM, CAD, PDF, image or skeletal model. Thefloor plan analysis may be used to locate rooms, room borders, doors,windows, stairs, furniture and any other architectural feature. A floorplan analysis may indicate the type of feature detected. A floor plananalysis may include using geometric analysis, semantic analysis, BIManalysis, image analysis and artificial intelligence methods as descriedherein.

FIG. 27 depicts a flowchart of an example process for selectingequipment models and optimizing placement of equipment in floor plans,consistent with disclosed embodiments. The process may be performed byat least one processor. In some embodiments the process is notnecessarily limited to the steps illustrated and any of the variousembodiments described herein may be included in or excluded from theprocess.

At step 2701, the process may include accessing a floor plan demarcatinga plurality of rooms, where the floor plan includes a plurality ofequipment symbols. As discussed herein, for example, a floor plan may beaccessed by receiving any medium containing a representation of a floorplan. A floor plan may be accessed by receiving a digital, textual, handdraw, hard copy, photographic, or any other representation of a floorplan as stored in a data structure.

At step 2703, the process may include enabling a user to select anequipment symbol for analysis. For example, a user may be presented witha graphical user interface on a physical or virtual display that enablesthe user to select an equipment symbol or multiple equipment symbols bytouching, clicking on, drawing a section box, or otherwise designatingan equipment symbol or multiple equipment symbols (any or all of whichmay be considered “selecting”). The user may provide, via such agraphical user interface, information selecting an equipment symbol ormultiple equipment symbols. Selecting may also include storing adesignation in a data structure, index, or database, for example. Inanother example, a user may be presented with a graphical user interfaceenabling a user to access a list of equipment symbols and select aplurality of equipment symbols from a list for analysis. The list ofequipment may include equipment symbols that appear within a floor plan,equipment symbols absent from a floor plan, or any combination thereof.The user may be enabled to select an equipment symbol, multipleequipment symbols, an equipment family, a series of equipment, anequipment model, or any combination thereof.

At step 2705, the process may include parsing the floor plan to identifyinstances of the selected equipment symbol. The system may parse,analyze, or otherwise search a floor plan to identify, list, count,indicate, or store instances of the selected equipment symbol ormultiple equipment symbols, as disclosed herein.

At step 2707, the process may include parsing the floor plan to identifystructural elements including walls.

At step 2709, the process may include accessing functional requirementsfor a set of rooms in the plurality of rooms containing the instances ofthe selected equipment symbols. For example, the at least one processormay access functional requirement associated with a set of rooms thatare stored in memory, such as a data structure as disclosed herein.

At step 2711, the process may include accessing equipment technicalspecifications to identify equipment technical specifications associatedwith the functional requirements. Accessing in this context may involveretrieving a technical specification from memory, such as in a datastructure, as disclosed herein. By way of non-limiting example, if thefunctional requirement is to provide wireless internet coverage for anarea, the technical specifications may include details for various Wi-Firouters and their capabilities.

At step 2713, the process may include performing a generative analysison the identified equipment technical specifications within identifiedwalls of each room in the set of rooms to select an equipment model thatat least partially conforms to the functional requirements. For example,the at least one processor may generatively analyze the identifiedequipment technical specifications within identified walls of each roomin the set of rooms to select an equipment model or models that at leastpartially conforms to the functional requirements for each room or setof rooms. Continuing the above wireless internet coverage example, thesystem may generatively analyze the technical specifications of variousWi-Fi access points to select a specific access point or access points.The selection may be a function of wireless internet coverage, but alsomay be a function of cost, equipment usage, and/or aesthetic preferencesacross other regions of the floor plan other than the particular roomunder analysis.

At step 2715, the process may include updating the floor plan byassociating the selected equipment model with the instances of theselected equipment symbols. For example, a graphical user interface mayindicate or display an association between a selected equipment modeland selected instances of the equipment symbols, as disclosed herein.

At step 2717, the process may include outputting a bill of materialbased on the updated floor plan. For example, the system may determinethe number of instances of an equipment symbol associated with anequipment model in the updated floor plan and output a bill of material,as disclosed herein.

As previously discussed, the present disclosure relates to a method anda system for selecting equipment models and optimizing placement ofequipment in floor plans, as well as a non-transitory computer-readablemedium that may include instructions that, when executed by at least oneprocessor, cause the at least one processor to execute operationsenabling selecting equipment models and optimizing placement ofequipment in floor plans.

Aspects of this disclosure may relate to systems, methods and computerreadable media for automatically indexing rooms in a floor plan andgroup similar rooms so that actions implemented on one room in the groupmay be applied to others in the group. Such indexes may facilitate rapidsearching and may enable efficient application of bulk actions (e.g.,locating equipment in positions within a group of rooms based on sharedsemantic designations among the group of rooms). Conventionally,identifying similar rooms may be challenging as their semanticdesignations (e.g. labels indicating a private office, corridor, orother space type) may not be structured. The semantic designation ofarchitectural features, furniture, and equipment located inside roomsmay similarly not be structured. The disclosed systems may use machinelearning and/or other methods to generate semantic designations of aplurality of rooms and the architectural features, furniture, andequipment located inside the rooms to obviate conventional problems ofworking directly in floor plans or using labor intensive andinconsistent methods to generate semantic designations. The disclosedembodiments may improve semantic enrichment processes by facilitating animplementation of room color-coding, allowing for the bulk applicationof functional requirements, bulk application of equipment additions,bulk application of technical specifications, and enabling efficientsorting and searching of various attributes and characteristics within abuilding, for example.

For ease of discussion, a method is described below, with theunderstanding that aspects of the method apply equally to systems,devices, and computer readable media. For example, some aspects of sucha method may occur electronically over a network that is either wired,wireless, or both. Other aspects of such a method may occur usingnon-electronic means. In a broadest sense, the method is not limited toparticular physical and/or electronic instrumentalities, but rather maybe accomplished using many differing instrumentalities.

Disclosed embodiments may involve accessing a floor plan. As describedabove, the floor plan may include a graphic representation of ahorizontal section of a building, which may include an interior of thebuilding, an exterior of the building, or both. The floor plan may berepresented in any suitable format, including a hand-drawn or scannedimage, a vector-based format (e.g., CAD, PDF, DWG, SVG, or other 2Ddrawing formats), an image format (e.g., BMP, JPG, PNG, or similar imagefiles), a 3D models, a Building Information Models (“BIM”) format (e.g.,RVT, IFC), or any other graphical or digital format.

The floor plan can be accessed in a variety of ways. In someembodiments, the floor plan may be retrieved from a network location,such as a network drive, a cloud-based platform, a remote server, orother forms of network storage locations. The floor plan may also beaccessed from local storage, such as a local memory device associatedwith the processor performing the disclosed methods. In otherembodiments, the floor plan may be uploaded by a user, for example,through a user interface. Additional details regarding floor plans andthe accessing of floor plans are described throughout the presentdisclosure.

In some embodiments, the borders or contours of a room may not initiallybe demarcated in the floor plan. Accordingly, the disclosed embodimentsmay include identifying contours of the plurality of rooms. The contoursmay include walls, windows, doors, columns, beams, furniture, balconies,equipment, or any other objects that may constitute boundaries of aroom, as discussed above. This may include semantic analysis, geometricanalysis, machine learning methods, or any other analysis or processingtechniques that may allow the system to identify the contours of a room.

In some embodiments, the disclosed embodiments may include identifyingrooms, walls, and/or doors using artificial intelligence. As one ofskill in the art will appreciate, machine learning may include traininga model to perform a task. Example machine learning models may includebut are not limited to classification models, neural network models,random forest models, convolutional neural network (CNN) models, deeplearning models, recurrent neural network models, support vector machinemodels, ensemble prediction models, adaptive network based inferencesystem, or any other types of machine learning models. In someembodiments, a deep neural network such as Resnet 50, RetinaNet, MaskRCNN, Unet, and/or Mask RCNN may be used. Embodiments consistent withthe present disclosure may include structured data models such as, forexample, boosting algorithms (e.g XGBoost), standard neural networks,and random forest models.

Training the model may include providing example training data to themodel and iteratively optimizing model parameters until a trainingcriteria is satisfied. For example, a model may be trained to classifydata using labelled datasets. In some embodiments, a model may betrained to use training input data to produce an output that closelymatches training output data. Model training may include hyperparametertuning, sizing of mini-batches, regularization and changes in networkarchitectures. Systems and methods contemplated herein may include usingavailable machine learning platforms and/or libraries to train and/ormanage models (e.g., TensorFlow™, Python™, Matlab™, Keras™, MicrosoftCognitive Toolkit™, and/or any other machine learning platform). Thetraining of machine learning models may be supervised and/orunsupervised. Training data may take many forms including, for example,the annotation of elements including but not limited to variousarchitectural features (e.g. doors, door sills, windows, walls, rooms,etc.) and equipment (e.g. sensors, furniture, cabinetry, lightingfixtures, HVAC ducting, etc.). The training data may include a pluralityof floor plans may be annotated in different ways including but notlimited to CSV, JSON, masks, and/or other file types to allow multi-typedeep learning training and other possible artificial intelligencetraining techniques. These objects may be generated manually by drawingthem over the image or may be generated automatically using heuristic,geometric, or statistic algorithms.

In some embodiments, additional processing may be performed to generatethe training data set. For example, training images may be cleaned byremoving text, redundant features and/or other elements or augmentedthrough the rotation of the images or addition of noise to the images.For small object detection such as doors and door sills, the floor planmay be cropped (for example to 1000×1000 pixels) and may later berecomposed and used with non-maximum suppression. For larger holisticobjects such as walls and rooms, the images may be resized (e.g., to1024×1024 or 512×512) before inputting into the artificial intelligencemodel. The trained model may then be used to identify rooms, windows,doors, columns, beams, furniture, balconies, equipment, or any otherobjects or architectural features in the floor plan.

The disclosed embodiments may further include accessing architecturalfeature data associated with the plurality of rooms. As describedthroughout the present disclosure, an architectural feature may includea wall, a half wall, a door, a window, a skylight, a column, stairs, ahandrail, a beam, flooring, an elevator, a fireplace, or any otherpermanent or semi-permanent part of the building. In some embodiments,the architectural feature data may include furniture. As used herein,furniture may describe large movable equipment, such as tables andchairs, used to make a house, office, or other space suitable for livingor working. In some embodiments, the architectural feature data mayinclude geometric data, which may include geometric features, such asshape or dimension of a room. For example, the architectural feature mayinclude whether the room has a nook or a closet, a number of walls orcorners included in the room, a width of the room, a height of the room,volume of the room, boundary segments of the room, topologicalconnections of the room, other room adjacencies to the room, roombounding ratio, room bounding width, room bounding length, or any otherfeatures associated with room geometry. The architectural feature datamay be represented in any suitable way that may be accessed by thesystem. In some embodiments, the architectural feature data may beincluded in the floor plan. In such instances, architectural featuresmay be accessed at the same time the floor plan is accessed. Saidanother way, accessing a floor plan and accessing architectural featuresmight occur together at a single time or as part of a single step. Or,after the floor plan is accessed, AI analysis, geometric analysis,and/or semantic analysis may be performed on the floor plan to identifyarchitectural features. Alternatively, or additionally, some or allarchitectural features may be embedded in metadata and may be accessedafter the floor plan is accessed. As an example, a BIM file may containBIM objects of architectural features which contain metadata. Thus, thedisclosed embodiments may include performing a floor plan analysis,which may include image recognition or geometric analysis techniques, toidentify the architectural feature data. In some embodiments, some orall of the architectural feature data may be stored in metadataassociated with the floor plan, or separately from the floor plan, forexample, in an associated data structure or other format.

FIG. 28A is a diagram illustrating an example floor plan 2800,consistent with the disclosed embodiments. As described above, disclosedembodiments may be used to access architectural features within a region2802 of floor plan 2800. For example, the designation “Chairman'sOffice,” as shown in the transformed image on the right of FIG. 28A mayhave been derived from metadata, and AI analysis may have been used toidentify chair 2812, window 2814, door 2816, or various other featureswithin floor plan 2800, as described above. In some embodiments, thearchitectural features may include an area 2918 of the office, or othergeometric or architectural properties.

Using the architectural feature data, the disclosed embodiments mayinclude performing a semantic enrichment process on the plurality ofrooms in order to determine semantic designations for the plurality ofrooms. As described in embodiments throughout the present disclosure, asemantic enrichment may refer to the process of adding semanticinformation to a floor plan. In this context, semantic enrichment may beused to classify a room based on its architectural features. Forexample, a room with a door, window, desk and chair may be recognized asan office. The semantic enrichment may also include analysis ofgeometric data or features, as described above. For example, a small,square-shaped room may indicate a room is an office, whereas a largersize may indicate a conference room, or other lager space. In someembodiments, the semantic enrichment may include applying a machinelearning model, as described above. As disclosed, semantic enrichmentmay include using a Random Forest or XGBoost algorithm trained todetermine semantic designation based on architectural feature data andwhere architectural feature data is provided as an input to determinesemantic designations. Training of a machine learning model may includemanually tuning of, hyperparameters manually and/or with a grid, toidentify optimal parameters including, but not limited to, the number oftrees, minimum child weight, maximum depth among many others. In someembodiments, a Convolutional Neural Network may be used to determinesemantic designations. Each room may be associated with a singlesemantic designation, or may be associated with multiple semanticdesignations.

As used herein, a semantic designation may refer to any form ofclassification of a room according to a fixed schema. In someembodiments, the semantic designation may be associated with respectiveroom functions, describing the purpose or use of a room. For example, asemantic designation may include “kitchen,” “office”, “bedroom,”“restroom,” “corridor,” or other descriptive information. The semanticdesignations may be clear and consistent terms chosen from a limitedlist of possibilities such that they can be recognized by a computer.For example, the list may include only one of the terms “restroom,”“bathroom,” “men's room,” “women's room,” “toilet,” or other similarterms to avoid multiple designations for the same room.

In some embodiments, the semantic designations may be based oninternational standards. For example, a list of semantic designationsmay be based on an OmniClass™ standard, Industry Foundation Classes(IFC), Uniclass™, MasterFormat™, or other standard lists ofarchitectural semantic designations that may be accepted internationallyand/or commonly used in the industry. Alternatively, or additionally,semantic designations may be based on user-definable standards. Forexample, the list may be an internally maintained standard that iscustom built or semi-custom built for a specific purpose. The list maybe a proprietary or unique standard defined by an individual architect,planner, designer, firm, client, builder, or various other entitiesinvolved in architectural development.

In some instances, not all room functions or semantic designations canbe identified with a 100% certainty in the semantic enrichment process.For example, this may be due to an ambiguous or meaningless room tag(“IR 300”) or a geometry that lacks clearly identifying features. Toaccount for this, the semantic enrichment process may includedetermining a confidence level or confidence rating, representing adegree of confidence that the determined semantic designation for a roommatches the room geometry or features. The confidence level may berepresented as a value in a range of values (e.g., 0-1, 1-10, 1-100,etc.), as a percentage (e.g., 0-100%), based on a textual rating (e.g.,“very high,” “low,” etc.), as a symbolic or graphical representation(e.g. based on a color-based legend, predefined symbols, etc.), or byany other representation of varying degrees of confidence. As anillustrative example, a room tagged as “Office” may be assigned asemantic designation of “Office” with a 100% (or near 100%) confidence,while a room tagged as “A. Davis” might still be designated as anoffice, but with a relatively low confidence rating (e.g., 30%). In someembodiments, the disclosed methods may perform different operationsbased on a confidence levels associated with a semantic designation. Insome embodiments, the confidence levels may be compared to a confidencethreshold to determine appropriate actions. As used herein, a confidencethreshold may refer to a minimum confidence level associated with adetermined semantic designation (or maximum confidence level, dependingon how the value is defined). For example, the semantic enrichmentprocess may not display semantic designations with a confidence ratingis below 60%, or any other suitable threshold.

In many cases, semantic designations may be missing altogether from afloor plan. Accordingly, the semantic enrichment process may includedetermining a semantic designation where one was absent. For example, afloor plan may have no data or properties associated with a room (e.g.,if the floor plan is an image file), or may have some data or propertiesassociated with the rooms but may not include a semantic designation.Even in instances where semantic designations are included in the floorplan, the semantic designations may be incorrect or unclear. Forexample, a room may be labeled with “manager” or “accounting” instead of“office”. Accordingly, disclosed embodiments provide additionalinformation at scale by enabling the identification of accurate,consistent semantic designations in floor plans.

In other instances, the semantic designations may not conform to adefined standard, such as the standards noted above. Accordingly, thesemantic enrichment process may include replacing or supplementinginformation on the floor plans with a different designation in order tobe read by a computer. For example, the semantic enrichment processesmay include overriding an existing semantic designation. Overriding thesemantic designation may include replacing the existing semanticdesignation or supplementing the existing semantic designation with acorrect semantic designation. In some embodiments, the existing semanticdesignation may be overridden manually by a user. For example, the usermay manually modify text or properties within the floor plan to conformto an industry standard list of semantic designations. In someembodiments, the disclosed systems may provide a graphical userinterface to allow the user to override existing semantic designations,for example, through a drop down menu, by dragging and dropping semanticdesignations, through a text entry field, or through any other suitablecontrols or functions. In some embodiments, the overriding may beperformed automatically or as a bulk operation. For example, a rule maybe defined to change all rooms with the semantic designation “bathroom”to “restroom,” or similar rule-based operations. In some embodiments,the overriding may be performed using an index displaying all roomfunctions, which may then be edited individually or in bulk. Accordingto some embodiments, the override may be based on a confidencethreshold, as described above. For example, the existing semanticdescriptions may only be overridden with semantic designations having aconfidence score greater than 70%, or any other suitable threshold.

In some embodiments, information associated with rooms in the floor planmay be relevant to the semantic designation process. For example, thesemantic enrichment process may include considering an existing roomname. In this context, the room name may include any identifierassociated with a room on a floor plan, including descriptive text, roomnumbers, symbols, shading, coloring, or any other forms of identifiers.In some embodiments, the room names may be semantic designations thatare unclear or that do not conform to an industry or internationalstandard, as discussed above. For example, a room labeled “workstation”may indicate that the room is an office, although the term “workstation”may not be a recognized semantic designation. In some embodiments, thesemantic enrichment process may supplement or augment an existing roomname or tag by associating the determined semantic designation with theexisting ones. For example, a room with an existing semantic designationof RM 201 may supplemented with the additional determined designation of“office” (e.g. RM 201 Office).

In some embodiments, the semantic enrichment process may includeconsidering semantic designations of architectural features. Similar tothe semantic designations for rooms, as described above, architecturalfeatures may also be defined according to an international or industrystandard or a user-defined standard. Example architectural featuresemantic designations may include “chair,” “desk,” “column,” “balcony,”“door,” or any other descriptors of architectural features that may beincluded in a floor plan. A room may be assigned a semantic designationbased on architectural features within the room having semanticdesignations commonly associated with a particular room semanticdesignation. For example, architectural features designated as “chair”and “desk” may commonly be associated with an office. In someembodiments, combinations of architectural features may be considered.For example, an architectural feature designated as “chair” may indicatea room is an office when included in the same room as an architecturalfeature designated as “desk,” but may indicate a room is a living roomwhen included in the same room as an architectural feature designated as“sofa.” Further, the number of features designated as “chair” mayindicate a room is a conference room rather than an office. In someembodiments, the spatial architectural features and furniture may beconsidered. For example, the position of chairs relative to a table mayindicate whether the table is a meeting table or a dining table.

According to some embodiments, the disclosed methods may further includedetermining semantic designations for furniture or architecturalfeatures. For example, in embodiments where the floor plan does notinclude semantic designations for furniture or architectural features,they may be determined and added as part of the semantic enrichmentprocess. In instances where semantic designations for furniture orarchitectural features are included, these may be modified,supplemented, or replaced. The semantic designations for furniture orarchitectural features may be determined using methods similar to thosedescribed above with respect to the semantic designations for the rooms.In some embodiments, this may include identifying geometric shapes orfeatures on the floor plan and associating them with furniture orarchitectural features, as described above, which may then be used togenerate the semantic designations. In some embodiments, this mayinclude semantic analysis of BIM object metadata and other property datawhich may include manufacturers, model number, BIM families,description, technical characteristics, classification tags and avariety of other data. In some embodiments, a machine learning model maybe trained using a training data set of floor plans with geometric datarepresenting furniture or architectural features as well sematicdesignations for those features. Based on the training data, a machinelearning model may be developed to automatically associate geometricdata with semantic designations. In some embodiments, the semanticdesignations may be determined based on property data or other metadataassociated with the floor plan. For example, object property data of aBIM object, for example, may include a model number for an office chair,which the disclosed systems may associate with a “chair” semanticdesignation.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include associating,on the floor plan, the semantic designations with the plurality ofrooms. This may involve any mechanism for representing the determinedsemantic designation such that it is linked in some manner to itsrespective room. In some embodiments, this may include adding thesemantic descriptions as text to the floor plan. For example, the word“Office” may be overlaid on the floor plan within a room determined tobe an office based on the architectural features. In some embodiments,associating the semantic designations with the plurality of rooms mayinclude modifying or inserting text as a property, data field, or othermetadata associated with the floor plan. In embodiments, where the floorplan is a CAD, drawing, or vector file, this may include adding orupdating properties of one or more shapes representing the room in thefloor plan to include the semantic designation. This may be included ina dedicated semantic designation field, or may be included withingeneral property data. In embodiments where the floor plan is a BIMfile, the semantic designations may be added as properties of the roomin the BIM file or to a BIM object. In some embodiments, the semanticdesignations may be associated with the floor plan in a separate file orseparate portion of a file. For example, the semantic designations maybe associated with the rooms (e.g., using a room identifier, room name,etc.) in a data structure.

In some instances, the disclosed embodiments may further includeassociating, on the floor plan, a confidence level for the semanticdesignations. As described above, the semantic enrichment process mayinclude determining a confidence level for one or more of the semanticdesignation determinations. These confidence levels may be representedin any manner such that they are associated with the semanticdesignations in the floor plan. The confidence levels may be representedas a text or numerical value along with the semantic designations (e.g.,“Laboratory [80%]”), which may be overlaid on the floor plan, includedin object properties or other metadata, or otherwise included in thefloor plan. In some embodiments, the confidence levels may berepresented as one or more symbols on the floor plan (e.g., as a numberof stars, etc.), as a color (e.g., on a color scale for a shading of aroom or for the font of the semantic designation), as a shading orpattern, or other graphical representations. In some embodiments,whether or not the confidence level for a room exceeds a confidencethreshold may be indicated on the floor plan. This may be represented,for example, in the font of the semantic designation (e.g., green font,bold or underlined font, or other highlights), by including a symbol(e.g., a star or checkmark), by a textual or numerical indicator, acolor, of any other suitable indication.

FIG. 28B illustrates an example semantic enrichment process that may beperformed on region 2802 of floor plan 2800, consistent with thedisclosed embodiments. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 28A, thedisclosed methods may be used to determine architectural features withinregion 2802, such as chair 2812, window 2814, door 2816, and area 2818.Based on these and other architectural features, the disclosed methodmay determine semantic designation 2810, which may specify thechairman's office as “Office 1.” Semantic designation 2810, as well asother semantic designations for rooms in region 2802 may be associatedwith floor plan 2800, as shown. These might be overlaid on an image ofthe floor plan itself, be constructed as a separate image layer, storedin an index, and/or maintained in metadata.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include associating,in an index, the semantic designations with the plurality of rooms. Thismay be performed before, after, or concurrently with associating thesemantic designations with the plurality of rooms on the floor plan. Asused herein, an index may include a data structure or other format forrepresenting data to define relationships between data elements. Theindex may be stored in plain text, a table or chart, a database, or anyother suitable format. The index may be stored in a single file or mayinclude multiple files. The index may be applicable to one or moreparticular projects, buildings, site locations, floor plans, wings,areas, disciplines (e.g., electrical equipment, HVAC equipment, etc.),or any other classifications or scopes. In reference to a building, theindex may include a list of all room names (which may include roomnumbers, or other identifiers), their semantic designation, dataregarding their geometric features and architectural features, dataregarding functional requirements associated with rooms, data regardingequipment associated with rooms, data regarding technical specificationsassociated with rooms, IoT or Building Management System data associatedwith rooms (e.g. energy metering, occupancy statuses, temperatureset-points, light levels, maintenance records, alarms, etc.) or anyother relevant information or a combination thereof.

The index may be optimized to improve efficiency and/or speed ofaccessing and organizing data referenced by the index. In someembodiments, the index may be configured to be searched, filtered orboth. For example, the index may be organized as a self-balancing tree(e.g., a B-Tree) or other searchable data structure. An index may beorganized such that data elements may be identified based on theirinclusion of particular text or properties, or their relationship withother data elements. In some embodiments, the index may also includemetadata or keywords to allow the data to be searched for or filtered toidentify elements, rather than having to read through each fileindividually. For example, the index may associate a building level witheach of the plurality of rooms, such that the index is configured to befiltered and/or searched by a building level.

In some embodiments, the semantic enrichment process described above maybe performed after the index is generated. For example, the index may bean existing index stored in a local memory, a remote memory (e.g., acloud-based service, a remote server, a network drive or folder, etc.),a volatile memory (e.g., random access memory), a database, or otherstorage location. Accordingly, associating the semantic designationswith the plurality of rooms may include adding the rooms and/or semanticdesignations to the index, modifying or replacing rooms and/or semanticdesignations in the index, or both. In other embodiments, the semanticenrichment process described above may be performed before the index isgenerated. Accordingly, associating the semantic designations with theplurality of rooms may include generating and storing the index.

Various other information may be included in the index in addition to(or, in some cases, in place of) the semantic designations. In someembodiments, the index may contain a confidence rating for the semanticdesignations. For example, the semantic enrichment process describedabove may include generating confidence levels associated with each ofthe semantic designations and the confidence levels may be included inthe index. Accordingly, the index may be configured to be filtered orsearched by confidence level. This may include filtering to showsemantic designations with confidence levels above a confidencethreshold.

In some embodiments, the disclosed methods may include associating roomnames with the plurality of rooms in the index. As described above, aroom name may include any identifier associated with a room. In someembodiments, the room name may be a textual description of a function orcategory of room. For example, the room name may be similar to thesemantic designation but may not conform to a structured format, such asan OmniClass™ designation, or similar standards. In some embodiments,the room names may be generated by the disclosed systems, for example,during the semantic enrichment process, as described above. In otherembodiments, the room names may be included in or otherwise associatedwith the floor plan. Accordingly, the index may include the determinedsemantic designation and existing room names of at least one of theplurality of rooms.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure may include associating roomswith their associated architectural features in the index. Thearchitectural features may be identified by accessing architecturalfeature data, as described in greater detail above, which may be storedas part of the floor plan (e.g., in property data or other metadata),may be represented as geometric features in the floor plan, or storedseparately from the floor plan. The index may include a column, row, orother field for associating architectural features with the rooms in theindex. The index may include any other data that may be associated withrooms described throughout the present disclosure, including, but notlimited to, technical characteristics, technical specifications, areasof interest, zone identifications, room features, placement locations,room functions, functional requirements, project identifiers, levelidentifiers, or similar information.

Some disclosed embodiments may include associating semantic designationsfor furniture, architectural features, equipment or all three elements,with their respective rooms in the index. For example, semanticdesignations for furniture, equipment, and/or architectural features maybe determined as part of the semantic enrichment process, as describedabove. In other embodiments, the semantic designations for furniture,equipment, or architectural features may be included in the floor plan.Accordingly, the index may be searched or filtered based on thesesemantic designations.

By way of example, FIG. 28C illustrates a tabular representation of anexample index 2820 that may be generated based on floor plan 2800consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Index 2810 may associatesemantic designations (shown here in the Identified Room Functioncolumn) with room numbers, room names, or other room identifiers. Theindex may include other information associated with the rooms. This mayinclude architectural features (such as the area of the room andsemantic designations for identified furniture and equipment), furnituretext and energy consumption values. For example, the chairman's officedescribed above may be associated with a semantic designation of“Office,” as described above. Based on furniture text associated withobjects in the room (e.g., in object properties or other metadata),index 2820 may also include semantic designations for a desk, threechairs, and a sofa, as shown. The index may also identify a thermostatequipment designation, as shown. It is to be understood that the indexillustrated in FIG. 28C is provided by way of example, and the index isnot limited to the format or type or quantity of information shown inFIG. 28C. Although FIG. 28C is organized as a table having particularcolumn headers, indexes according to the embodiments may be organizedusing different schema (e.g., with different headers, as relationaldatabases, as searchable trees, or in other formats).

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include updating thefloor plan by using the index to enable an action to be applied to agroup of rooms. The group of rooms may be defined based on anyinformation included in the index, as described above. For example, theindex may be searched or filtered based on any of the information in theindex for purposes of applying the action. In some embodiments, thegroup of rooms may share a common semantic designation. For example, thegroup of rooms may include all rooms which share “office” as a semanticdesignation. Accordingly, the index may enable a functional requirement,such as a rule defining task lighting placement and brightness, to beapplied to all rooms in a floor plan designated as offices. Any otherinformation included in the index, as described above, may similarly beused to apply actions to a group of rooms. For example, updating thefloor plan may include using the index to enable the action to beapplied to a group of rooms sharing common architectural features. Thismay include applying an action to rooms containing a column, rooms alongan exterior of a building, rooms including a desk, rooms having aparticular shape, or any other architectural features describedthroughout the present disclosure.

As another example, the group of rooms may be identified based onequipment that is included in or that will be included in the rooms. Forexample, the disclosed methods may include accessing a list of equipmentin the plurality of rooms and associating, in the index, equipment fromthe list of the equipment with respective ones of the plurality of roomsin the index. The list of equipment may include a materials list or anyother means of associating equipment with a particular room. Thedisclosed embodiments may further include using the index to enable theaction to be performed on rooms sharing common equipment. For example,this may include applying a functional requirement requiring all roomscontaining cameras to have a particular data connection requirement, orall rooms containing welding equipment to have a particular powerrequirement.

In some embodiments, the group of rooms may be identified based on aninput from a user. For example, the disclosed embodiments may includeenabling a user to select a plurality of rooms from the index andassociating functional requirements with the selected rooms. Theselection may include any manner in which a user may identify a group ofrooms. This may include a manual selection, applying one or morefilters, applying one or more searches, or a combination thereof. Insome embodiments, enabling the user to select a room from the index mayinclude enabling the user to click in the floor plan on a room that waspreviously indexed. Accordingly, the disclosed methods may includedisplaying the floor plan for selection of rooms by a user. The user maysimilarly select a room by clicking, tapping, annotating, circling,highlighting, or otherwise marking a display of the floor plan via auser interface. In some embodiments, the selection may be made bymarking the area defined by the room in the floor plan, marking aboundary of the room, marking an icon or symbol associated with theroom, marking a semantic description displayed on the floor plan, orvarious other elements on the floor plan. In some embodiments, the floorplan may include symbols or other elements for selecting groups ofrooms. For example, a user may mark a toilet icon to select all roomswith a “restroom” semantic designation. In some embodiments, enablingthe user to select a room from the index includes enabling the user toselect a room from a list. In this context, a list may be a display ofsome or all of the rooms included in the index. For example, the listmay be presented as a drop-down menu, enabling a user to select one ormore rooms for which an action is to be applied. The list may also bedisplayed as a series of checkboxes or radio buttons, a series ofselectable items, or any other display enabling a user to select one ormore rooms. In some embodiments, some or all of the index itself may bedisplayed. For example, a user may select one or more rooms from a tableor other representation of the index.

As noted above, updating the floor plan may enable an action to beapplied to the group of rooms. As used herein, an action may refer toany operation that involves accessing or modifying data in the floorplan. In some embodiments, this may include editing the content of roomdata in the floor plan, for example, by changing information in a field,adding or removing a data field, modifying or adding image or shapedata, or any other means of editing contents of the floor plan. In someembodiments, this may include defining or associating a functionalrequirement with one or more rooms in the floor plan. For example, theaction may include application of a functional requirement containing atleast one of a candela intensity, lux level, a decibel sound level, aSpeech Transmission Index level, wireless signal strength, a pixeldensity level, door access control, a BTU level, an energy consumptionlevel, or any other functional requirements as described throughout thepresent disclosure.

Similarly, an action may include associating a technical specificationwith the group of rooms. For example, a user may select one or morerooms from a floor plan and define a particular manufacturer or model ofcamera, or particular technical characteristics of a camera to beinstalled in the room. The associated technical specification may beused, for example, during a generative analysis to determine equipmentto be placed in the room. In some embodiments, this may also includeupdating information in the index. For example, the action may includechanging an equipment model identifier or other technical specificationinformation or technical characteristics. In some embodiments, theaction may include adding equipment to the group of rooms. Adding theequipment may include any means for associating equipment with therooms. For example, as described above, the action may includeassociating a technical specification with the rooms, which may defineequipment that is to be included in the room. This may also includeadding a graphical representation of the equipment to the floor plan,such as an icon or other symbol representing the equipment. This mayalso include updating an equipment list or other actions associating apiece of equipment with the room.

In some embodiments, the action may include an application of a rule. Asdescribed herein, the rule may define how functional requirements are tobe applied or how equipment should be placed. In some embodiments, therule may be associated with a functional requirement of the group ofrooms. For example, the rule may define a functional requirement toplace a camera on every door that leads to a stairway, or similar rules,as described throughout the present disclosure. In some embodiments, therule may be an energy consumption rule. An energy consumption rule maybe any rule relating to the use of power or energy associated with aroom. As a non-limiting example, an energy consumption rule may includethe power consumption per square meter or other unit of measurement fora space and/or room with a certain function and/or use in a building.For example, the energy use of an office can be estimated at X kilowattsper square meter per hour, while the energy use of a dining area can beestimated at Y kilowatts per square meter per hour. An energyconsumption rule may be defined, for example, by a user, a code,building standard, pre-loaded template, an artificial intelligencemethod trained to predict energy consumption based on energy consumptionand/or occupancy patterns and/or building profiles, as well as manyother potential dataset types.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, updating thefloor plan may further include coloring rooms sharing a common semanticdesignation according to a legend. In this context, coloring a room mayrefer to marking a room with a color for display purposes. The color maybe applied to the floor of the room, a border, a wall, a ceiling, a 3Dvolume, furniture or equipment within a room, or any combinationthereof. The colored room may be shown on screen in a 2D top view or a3D perspective or isometric view. It may also be used as an output fordifferent file, such as a PDF, JPG, or other file format.

In some embodiments, the index may be used in conjunction with thegenerative analysis process for selection and/or placement of equipment,as described throughout the present disclosure. For example, thedisclosed methods may further include accessing functional requirementsassociated with the plurality of rooms. For example, a user may selectvarious rooms within a floor plan, as described above, and may initiatea generative analysis process based on the selection. Accordingly, themethod may further include performing a generative analysis process inconjunction with technical specifications of equipment associated withthe functional requirements and outputting a solution that leastpartially conforms to the functional requirement, as described above.

In some embodiments, the system may be a cloud-based system. Forexample, the methods described herein may be executed in a virtualinstance by a remote computer, rather than a local processor.Cloud-based computation can provide advantages in scalability, cost, andsecurity over approaches that rely on local computational orconventional servers.

By way of example, FIG. 28D illustrates an example search function 2830that may be performed on floor plan 2800 to search for spaces having asemantic designation of “office”. For example, a user may interact withfloor plan 2800 through a graphical user interface, which may include abutton, drop-down list, or other control allowing a user to search foroffices. As shown in FIG. 28E, index 2820 may be searched to identifyany rooms associated with a semantic designation including the term“Office.” By searching an index instead of directly searching floorplans, disclosed embodiment improve search speed and efficiency. Asdescribed above, offices identified in a search may be colorized orotherwise highlighted on a display of the floor plan. FIG. 28Fillustrates an example floor plan with offices highlighted, consistentwith the disclosed embodiments. For example, as shown, chairman's officediscussed above may be highlighted using a diagonal shading patternoverlaid on floor plan 2820. By identifying spaces based on a search,embodiments may enable a user to apply a functional requirement tosearch results (e.g., to apply requirements to highlighted offices). Forexample, the user may apply a functional requirement for a lightinglevel of 500 lux and occupancy sensor coverage for each of thehighlighted office spaces.

FIG. 28G illustrates another example action that may be performed onfloor plan 2800 using index 2820, consistent with the disclosedembodiments. As described above, a user may select a group of roomsincluding all offices within floor plan 2800. The user may then performan action of placing equipment within the offices. As shown in FIG. 28G,a user may be presented a list 2850 of items to be placed in each roomdesignated as an office. List 2850 may be a checklist, as shown in FIG.28G, or any other form of user control, such as a drop-down menu, aseries of buttons, a catalog of available equipment items, or variousother control features. List 2850 may include a list of all availableequipment, a list of equipment commonly associated with the selectedrooms, a list of items defined by a technical specification associatedwith the rooms, a list of recent equipment items, or any other suitablecategory of equipment. As shown, a user may select a camera model YY anda thermostat model XZ for placement into the offices. Accordingly, thesystem may place thermostat 2852 and camera 2854 in the chairman'soffice. This may be performed using a generative analysis, or any otherprocesses described throughout the present disclosure.

FIG. 28H illustrates another example action that may be performed basedon index 2820, consistent with the disclosed embodiments. In thisexample, a user may apply an action 2860, which may apply a technicalspecification to all lights within floor plan 2800. For example, thetechnical specification may define a model LYX1 to be used for allequipment with a semantic designation matching the term “light,” asshown. Index 2820 may be updated to include model number LYX1, asillustrated by the updated index in FIG. 28I. The various examplesdescribed throughout are provided for illustrative purposes and shouldnot be construed to limit the present disclosure. Various other exampleactions may be performed, consistent with the embodiments disclosedherein.

FIG. 28J illustrates another example action that may be performed basedon index 2820. In this example, a rule 2870 may be defined, which mayrequire electrical floor boxes having a model “xx” to be placed in thecenter of all conference tables. For example, this may be an outlet boxallowing laptops or other devices to be connected to a power sourceduring a meeting. Rule 2870 may also define a requirement that theelectrical floor boxes must be connected to an electrical distributionpanel DB-X1A. Rule 2870 may be performed as part of an automated processthat applies rule 2710 (and perhaps additional rules) to one or morefloor plans. In other embodiments, rule 2870 may be applied manually.For example, a user may select rule 2870 for application to floor plan2800. To apply rule 2872, a search function 2872 may be performed. Asshown in FIG. 28J, search function 2872 may search index 2820 for roomthat have furniture with a semantic designation matching “conferencetable.” In some embodiments, search function 2872 may be performedautomatically as part of application of rule 2870. In other embodiments,search function 2812 may be a manual function. For example, a user maymanually search index for rooms including a conference table and mayapply the rule to those rooms. Search function 2872 may result in amatch for a room named “BOARD Room” and having a room number 9.

FIG. 28K illustrates an updated floor plan indicating rooms withconference tables following the action performed in the prior figure,consistent with disclosed embodiments. As shown in FIG. 28K, the meetingroom identified through search function 2872 may be highlighted. Thismay include generating a box around conference table 2874, as shown. Themeeting room may also be highlighted by color, shading, patterns, aborder, or various other highlights, as described above. Rule 2870 maythen be applied to the selected room. FIG. 28L illustrates an updatedfloor plan after rule 2870 has been performed, consistent with disclosedembodiments. This may include placing electrical floor box 2876 (havinga model “xx”) in the center of conference table 2874, as shown. Thesystem may also generate a wiring diagram showing an electricalconnection 2878 from electrical floor box 2876 to Panel DB-X1A, as shownin FIG. 28L.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include outputting theindex. This may include any means of providing or making the indexavailable. In some embodiments, this may include transmitting the indexset electronically. This may include transmitting the index via email,through a secure connection, uploading the data to a network location(e.g., a cloud storage platform, a project Sharepoint™ site, a sharednetwork folder, or other forms of remote server locations), or any othermeans for transmitting data electronically. The transmission may be to amanufacturer, to a third party (e.g., a construction contractor, aproject manager, an engineering or architectural firm, or any otherentity that may be involved in design, planning, or installationassociated with the equipment. In some embodiments, the index may beexported to a third party application or software program. For example,the index may be exported in a format accessible by particular softwareprogram, including a CAD software package, BIM software package or tool,an ERM or CRM system, a construction planning tool, or any other form ofsoftware that may process, store, or use information included in theindex.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 2900 foranalysis, segmentation, and indexing of architectural renderings,consistent with disclosed embodiments. Process 2900 may be performed bya processing device, such as any of the processors described throughoutthe present disclosure. In some embodiments, a non-transitory computerreadable medium may contain instructions that when executed by aprocessor cause the processor to perform process 2900. Process 2900 isnot necessarily limited to the steps shown in FIG. 29 and any steps orprocesses of the various embodiments described throughout the presentdisclosure may also be included in process 2900.

At step 2902, process 2900 may include accessing a floor plandemarcating a plurality of rooms. As described above, the floor plan mayinclude any graphic representation of an interior of a building, anexterior of a building, or both. In some embodiments, the demarcationsmay not be included in the floor plan and step 2902 may further includedetermining the demarcations through machine learning methods, semanticanalysis, or geometric analysis, as described above. In someembodiments, the floor plan may demarcate a plurality of zones inaddition to or instead of the demarcations for the plurality of rooms.At step 2904, process 2900 may include accessing architectural featuredata associated with the plurality of rooms. The architectural featuredata may include geometric data, furniture, or other types ofarchitectural features, as described above. As previously discussed, ifthe architectural features are already fully provided in the accessedfloor plan, accessing architectural features may be part of the samestep as accessing a floor plan.

At step 2906, process 2900 may include using the architectural featuredata to perform a semantic enrichment process on the plurality of roomsin order to determine semantic designations for the plurality of rooms.The semantic designations may be based on industry, international,and/or user-definable standards, as described above. In someembodiments, step 2906 may further include generating a confidence levelfor the semantic designations, as described in greater detail above.Step 2906 may further include determining semantic designations forarchitectural features, which may be used, at least in part, todetermine the semantic designations for the plurality of rooms.

At step 2908, process 2900 may include associating, on the floor plan,the semantic designations with the plurality of rooms. For example, thesemantic designations may be overlaid as labels on the floor plan,similar to the semantic designations shown in FIG. 28B. At step 2910,process 2900 may include associating, in an index, the semanticdesignations with plurality of rooms. For example, the index may includea table or other data structure linking the determined semanticdesignations with corresponding room names or other room identifiers.

At step 2912, process 2900 may include updating the floor plan by usingthe index to enable an action to be applied to a group of rooms sharinga common semantic designation. In some embodiments, this may includecoloring or otherwise highlighting rooms sharing a common semanticdesignation according to a legend. The action may include applying afunctional requirement to the group of rooms as described above. Forexample, the functional requirement may contain at least one of acandela intensity, lux level, a decibel sound level, a SpeechTransmission Index level, wireless signal strength, a pixel densitylevel, door access control, a BTU level, or an energy consumption level,as described above. In some embodiments, process 2900 may furtherinclude other steps such as outputting the index, as discussed above.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, “at least one processor” mayconstitute any physical device or group of devices having electriccircuitry that performs a logic operation on an input or inputs. Forexample, the at least one processor may include one or more integratedcircuits (IC), including application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC),microchips, microcontrollers, microprocessors, all or part of a centralprocessing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), digital signalprocessor (DSP), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), server, virtualserver, or other circuits suitable for executing instructions orperforming logic operations. The instructions executed by at least oneprocessor may, for example, be pre-loaded into a memory integrated withor embedded into the controller or may be stored in a separate memory.The memory may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory(ROM), a hard disk, an optical disk, a magnetic medium, a flash memory,other permanent, fixed, or volatile memory, or any other mechanismcapable of storing instructions. In some embodiments, the at least oneprocessor may include more than one processor. A processor a componentof a local computer, a mobile device, a server, a server cluster, acloud-based platform, or any other computing environment. Each processormay have a similar construction or the processors may be of differingconstructions that are electrically connected or disconnected from eachother. For example, the processors may be separate circuits orintegrated in a single circuit. When more than one processor is used,the processors may be configured to operate independently orcollaboratively. Processors may be coupled electrically, magnetically,optically, acoustically, mechanically or by other means that permit themto interact.

Embodiments may involve using microservices. In this context, amicroservice may include any application built to operate in anecosystem of that includes interconnected packages and platforms (i.e.,a microservice ecosystem). Microservices may include containerizedapplications hosted in a cloud-based platform (e.g, KUBERNETES byAMAZON) and may be written in PYTHON, JavaScript/TypeScript, and C++, orother suitable programming languages. Microservices may communicate witheach other via both synchronous schemes (e.g., using an HTTP request andresponse scheme) and asynchronous messaging schemes. In the presentcontext, microservices may be configured to manage (e.g., read, write,delete, or perform other data operations) a single resource. Amicroservice may be unable, by design, to access or even be made awareof other resources directly. By implementing structural design systemsand methods using microservices, disclosed embodiments that usemicroservices provide technical improvements over conventionalapproaches. These improvements include enhanced security, stability, andscalability as compare to conventional systems that are notcontainerized, which do not operate in an ecosystem, or which may bevulnerable to discovery by malware or others.

In greater detail, containerization can include partitioning instancesof an operating system into isolated instances of itself.Containerization processes may include spinning up such instances toperform a task, and terminating instances upon completion of the task,for example. An operating system may include LINUX, UNIX, WINDOWS, orother suitable architectures. Partitioning may be achieved usingoperating-system-level computer virtualization (e.g., running a virtualinstance of a computer within another computer) technique, where anoperating system is partitioned into multiple, isolated, instances ofitself. Each partition may behave as an independent, isolated operatingsystem. This approach provides advantages in scalability by shorteningprocessing times by dedicating computational resources as needs arise.Containerization can also improve security by destroying data internalto an instance after the instance is terminated. As an example,microservices may be implemented using KUBERNETES, acontainer-orchestration software, that may be responsible for deployingand managing containerized applications; load balancing, scaling,security, notifications, reporting, user interfacing API servers, orotherwise managing jobs. Embodiments may include using other suitablecontainerization platforms (e.g., AMAZON LAMBDA, MICROSOFT AZURE, orother virtual private services).

Microservices may communicate via an HTTP request and response scheme,which may include sending, by one client, an HTTP request to anotherclient, who sends an HTTP response directly. Such communication betweentwo clients may be maintained during processing of the request to enablethe response to be sent as a direct response to the sent request.Alternatively or additionally, microservices may communicate usingasynchronous messaging in which a client may send a message withoutmaintaining communication receiving an immediate or direct response. Asynchronized communication may be managed by a suitable message queuebroker (e.g., SIMPLE QUEUE SERVICE (SQS) by AMAZON). Further,microservices may be subscribed to dedicated features or topic messagequeues (e.g., queues that are dedicated for sending requests to performoperations within a system). In some example workflows when messages aresent to queues, microservices may receive these messages (e.g., via amessage broker component) and perform relevant operations as instructedin the messages. In some cases, microservices may send a message to amirroring response queue.

In the embodiments, data may be structured using a variety of schema toencapsulate building and equipment information. For example, embodimentsmay include using BEAMUP definition (BMD) statements. BMD statements mayinclude a compressed JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) object (e.g.,compressed via GZIP) containing hierarchical buildings information. Moregenerally, a JSON object or other data structure may be constructed in away that represents the hierarchy of one or of multiple buildings.Information stored in objects may contain metadata, architecturalfeature data (e.g., information specifying room geometry, doors,windows, furniture, equipment), or advanced/processedgeometry/metrics/information about each element (buildings, levels, androoms). As a non-limiting example, a structure of an object may bespecified according to the following statements:

Site guid —[buildings]  quid  —[levels]   guid, name, elevation  —[rooms]    guid, number, longname, plan, comments,    beamupRoomType,internal, height, area, minZ,    maxZ, wallLength, outside,polygonComplexity,    department, tags, extraInfo    —[boundarySegments]    line    —[boundaryPoints]     point    —[doors]     guid, name,midpoint, pointonclosestseqment     —[boundaryPoints]    windows    —[guid]    —[elements]     guid, family, category, name, area,volume,     minZ, maxZ, material, system, type,     mechanical,identityData, beamupFurNumber,     beamupFurType, —[boundaryPoints]   —[obstacles]     element    connectedRooms    —[guid]    adjacentRooms     —[guid]

By way of example, FIG. 30 depicts an exemplary system architecture 3000consistent with disclosed embodiments. Components of architecture 3000are shown for purposes of illustration only, and embodiments may includeadditional components not depicted, fewer components, and differentarrangements of components than the example architecture of FIG. 30.

Dashboard 3001 may include an interface enabling a user to access asystem performing the disclosed methods. In greater detail, dashboard3001 may include a library of scripts or programs to facilitate userinteraction, such as REACTJS or other JavaScript user interface library.The library may include VUEJS, ANGULARJS, KNOCKOUT, POLYMER, RIOT, orlibrary to manage a web-based user interface. Dashboard 30001 may bestored in event-driven media (e.g., AMAZON S3 buckets), and fetched byclient browsers based on triggers (e.g., following a user-log in to amicroservice). More generally, a user may log in via a web userinterface and perform various actions that propagate to microserviceswhere inter-system operations are invoked (e.g., generative analysis toselect equipment), and then reflected back to the user.

Dashboard 3001, among other functions, may facilitate a visualization ofgeometry of floor plans and other drawings in 3D and 2D views. It mayalso be used to convey user instructions to microservices to performanalysis (e.g., generative analysis) and receive results generated bymicroservices executing system simulation algorithms and machinelearning models per the requirements and geometry. In other examples,dashboard 3001 may enable a user to upload a drawing, apply a functionalrequirement to a visualized floor plan, or perform other operations.

As shown, architecture 3000 may include app server 3002, which may groupmicroservices for managing primitive resources of the system (e.g., viaCRUD operations). For example, app server 3002 may provide services forassociated primitive resources such as user services to store and manageusers account data (e.g., in a MONGODB collection), such as documentsand information associated with users (e.g., email, name, organization,login credentials, projects associated with a user, or other userprofile data). App server 3002 may provide project service to store andmanage project data (e.g., in a MONGODB collection), such as documentsand information associated with projects (e.g., a project name, userprofile data associated with a project, design data, or other projectdata). In addition, app server 3002 may also include a drawing service.In this context, a drawing service may manage drawing resources forcreating, accessing or updating floor plans, for example. A drawingservice may include documents containing information about drawingfiles, (e.g., associated user data, file name, metadata describing adrawing, a drawing type, or location in storage). Further, the drawingsservice may include S3 folders that contain drawing files in a raw,binary form. App server 3002 may include still other services, such asan “enums service” for managing variables used by different services inarchitecture 3000, or it may include a catalogs service to manage acatalog resource. The catalog resource may contain data related toequipment (e.g., sensors, sensor accessories, wiring, or other devices)associated with various manufacturers (e.g., as received in a catalog orother product listing). Aspects of app server 3002 may be stored in S3buckets, databases, or other suitable storage media.

Architecture 3000 may include components configured to access (e.g.,receive or retrieve) technical specifications. For example, CADExtractor 3003 may be a microservice responsible for receiving requests(e.g., via SQS) for translating binary CAD drawings (e.g., in DWGformat) into a human readable JSON object, an XML format, or a YAMLformat, or any other suitable object. Upon instantiation, CAD extractor3003 may subscribe to a dedicated SQS message queue, where requestmessages for CAD translations are received. Such requests may containrelevant information for retrieval of an original files (e.g., an S3folder location, a file name), as well as the information of where toupload the translated JSON upon translation (S3 folder location and filename). In some cases, CAD extractor service 3003 may host a containerimage of a third party executable program that is able to translate orotherwise convert file formats (e.g., convert DWG to JSON). Uponsuccessful translation using the aforementioned executable, for example,the service may upload a translated JSON to a designated S3 folder path,and it may further send a message with the request fields to a mirroringCAD translation response queue, signifying that the translation iscomplete.

As shown in FIG. 30 by way of example, embodiments may include a CADreader 3004. Generally, a CAD reader may include a microservice that isresponsible for identifying rooms in CAD drawings, as well as creationof a file (e.g., a BMD file) that represents extracted rooms in a floorplan context. A CAD Reader may include algorithms and models forperforming analysis to identify room contours. For example, A CAD Radermay include algorithms for performing geometric analysis, semanticanalysis, and/or machine learning, as described herein. Uponinstantiation, a CAD Reader may subscribe to a dedicated SQS messagequeue, where request messages for CAD rooms identification are received.Such requests may contain relevant information for retrieval of the afile representing a drawing (e.g., a JSON file representing the DWGbinary). A request may further include information to retrieve a drawingas translated by CAD Extractor 3003 (e.g., a request may S3 folderlocation and file name), and information of where to upload thetranslated BMD upon translation (S3 folder location and file name).After receiving a request message, a CAD reader service may fetch arepresentation of a CAD drawing (e.g., retrieve a JSON object from an S3location), and execute an algorithm to processes unstructured vectoralCAD data in the JSON. The algorithm may recognize rooms via heuristic orML algorithms, in some cases. As a non-limiting example, a CAD readermay execute some or all of the following operations in variouscombinations and orders:

-   -   Fetch a CAD JSON translation file from S3.    -   Load a JSON file to memory.    -   Recursively traverse a JSON object while dereferencing CAD        blocks and populating a flat data structure containing the        vectorial elements within the blocks.    -   Filter CAD layers that may contain (a) irrelevant geometry such        as furniture, (b) layers that do not contain wall candidates as        per statistical analysis, (c) layers whose metadata        (particularly names) signify they do not consist of walls. For        example, rooms may include walls represented by line segments        within certain proximity to one another, and which may be        parallel to each other, and layers that do not include such        lines may be filtered out.    -   Identify doors using a geometric analysis algorithm which        searches for approximately 90 deg arcs and lines which come        close to wall end points and have roughly the same size. To        identify doors, a CAD reader may request a machine learning        inference (e.g. RetiNet model trained to identify doors) via an        HTTP request to a microservice. After doors are recognized, the        CAD reader may identify sills doors, which can be used to close        gaps that doors create in room perimeters. Sills may be        recognized via geometric analysis based on the proximity of the        potential sills to the surrounding walls.    -   Identify windows by looking for aggregations of parallel lines        of roughly the size and direction enclosed within blocks which        has a high length/width ratio. Identifying such windows may        enable the closing gaps in room perimeters, for example.    -   Identify walls in the different types of post-filter geometry        by, for example, filtering out inappropriate geometry based on        line length and selecting candidates pairs of lines which are        parallel, have at least some overlap, and whose distance        relative to each other does not exceed a threshold distance.    -   Identify additional wall candidates using a machine learning        room segmentation model (e.g. Mask RCNN trained to segment        walls) by sending an HTTP request (e.g., a request may transmit        an image in JPEG format as payload) to a dedicated microservice        that hosts a deep learning model for room segmentation.    -   Process identified wall candidates and create bounding boxes        from each wall candidate.    -   Filter out bounding boxes based on heuristics: bounding boxes        that may have sizes below a threshold (too small) or which may        be located within recognized doors or windows are presumably not        walls, and may be filtered out in some cases.    -   Join wall bounding boxes into polygons that can define rooms in        a CAD floor plan.    -   Determine which architectural features (doors, windows,        furniture) may belong in different rooms    -   Create an object by, for example generating a BMD statement that        populates a JSON-like Python dictionary with the aforementioned        rooms polygons geometry and generating a globally unique        identifier (GUID) per each room    -   Upload an object to storage (e.g., to a designated S3 folder        path location), and send an SQS message to the mirroring        response queue with request fields that indicate a CAD JSON was        processed and the BMD was successfully created.

As shown in FIG. 30, embodiments may include a Revit extractor 3005,which may use geometric analysis, semantic analysis, topologicalanalysis, and/or machine learning methods (e.g. BIM analysis) toidentify room contours, fix modeling errors in a BIM file and/or torender the BIM model suitable for computational processes such asgenerative analysis. Revit extractor 3005 may enrich a Revit™ file andexport it to a light (IFC4 Design Transfer View V1.0) enriched IFC file,including export of images per level (floor) of the model. Revitextractor 3005 may run as a plugin inside Revit™ using Autodesk Forge™(but can also run locally using a standard Revit™ plugin). In someembodiments, a Revit™ file may also be exported to an IFC file by usingother methods such as the Open Design Alliance (ODA) IFC SDK. In someembodiments, BIM analysis may be performed on Revit™ without exportingto IFC file format and a BMD may be created directly from a Revit™ file.In some embodiments, a generative analysis process may be performeddirectly on a Revit™ file without export or conversion to another fileformat. In some embodiments, Revit extractor 3005 may involve apreprocessing step. For example, a Revit IFC export function may exportsome or all of the spaces and rooms of a model as IFCSPACE entities inIFC schema. In order to ensure the model contains all the spaces androoms with the relevant information, preprocessing may be performed toensure all the walls and columns will be room bounding making everyspace and room bound to them (which will correct any spaces and roomsthe user made not bounding to room, offsetting from the actual spacelocation). As a non-limiting example, preprocessing may include usingFilteredElementCollector to collect all the walls and columns in themodel; for instantiated elements within the collector, usingLookupParameter (“Room Bounding”) to assign a true value, and for familyinstances, casting the element to FamilyInstance and use theLookupParameter (“Room Bounding”) to assign a true value. This functionmay ensure all possible spaces and rooms within a model exist and alsoprioritize any spaces made by the user (e.g., the model maker) if theyexist.

In some embodiments, Revit extractor 3005 may automatically designatespaces, for example, by creating rooms for all closed circuits. Plancircuits are enclosed regions as seen on a plan view, they are used todetermine the boundary extents of rooms based on the placement of walls.As a non-limiting example, this may include usingFilteredElementCollector to collect all the levels in the model; getdocument current phase; for each level within the collector, get thelevel topology using get_PlanTpology (level, phase). For each topology,Revit extractor 3005 may get the all the possible circuits. For eachcircuit, Revit extractor 3005 may check if there is already a roomassigned to the circuit using circuit.IsRoomLocated. Revit extractor3005 may assign a new room to the circuit, if necessary, usingdocument.Create,NewRoom (null, circuit) and may give the room a name anda serial number.

Revit extractor 3005 may then export the Revit to an IFC file. This mayinclude using predetermined settings to guarantee all necessary data isin place while file size is kept to a minimum.

In some embodiments, the IFC file may be exported to IFC reader 3006, asshown. IFC reader 3006 may use IFCopenshell to parse and read IFC filesand manipulate their geometry using the open cascade (OCC) geometrylibrary. The data structure used by IFC reader 3006 may be a list tohold all the rooms (the attributes listed at the end) and a site objectto hold information about the site extracted from the IFC file.

In some embodiments, IFC reader 3006 may perform an initialization step.For example, IFCopenshell may require bounding rep data and curves toinclude all the geometry needed for the disclosed embodiments. TheIFCSite may be used to build the spatial structure of a building.Accordingly, IFC reader 3006 may load ifcopenshell settings, read theIFC file and extract the ifcsite geometry, and save the site direction.

IFC reader 3006 may further be configured to parse IFC rooms. BecauseRevit™ exports all rooms and spaces as IfcSpace, there may beduplications and overlapping of spaces. IFC reader 3006 may read all thespaces, create their geometry, and attempt to fix errors and extract thenecessary information. The geometry extracted may be of typeTopoDS_Shape and can include compounds, solids, edges, faces, shells,vertices and wires. IFC entities might include part or all of the abovegeometry and further processing may be needed to extract and simplifythe wanted geometry. To manipulate and iterate over the geometry theservice may use OCC Topology explorer to navigate through the Shape andextract the edges of the shape. As a non-limiting example, IFC reader3006 may execute a parsing algorithm including some or all of thefollowing operations in various combinations and orders:

-   -   For each edge extracted, get its type.    -   Determine the line type.    -   If the edge is a line, extract its vertices, create a segment        using the edges points, and the and add it to the list of        segments.    -   If the edge is a curve type (Circles, Arcs, Ellipse) segment the        edge. This may include getting the curve length; determining the        split size and intervals; for each piece of segmenting i trim        the curve so that every part is a line (e.g., Starting point:        Curve starting point+interval*I|End point: Curve starting        point+interval*(i+1); and adding the line to the list of        segments.    -   The list of segments may contain segments of length 0 so any        segment containing equal first point and last point will be        filtered out and converted into BMD segment    -   Filter duplicate segments and calculate the room height using        segments maximum elevation (Z attribute) and minimum elevation.    -   Create boundary points list from the segments, using only        segments with minimum elevation (to create the room polyline)        and remove duplicate points.    -   Extract the spaces immediate data (guid, name, plan name).    -   Extract the space bounding data attribute from the space.    -   Extract Contained Elements inside the space.

IFC reader 3006 may further be configured to Get bounded elements.bounded elements can be physical elements such as doors, windows,columns; or virtual elements like separation lines, model lines, orother elements. Bounded elements can be virtual or non-virtual. In someembodiments, IFC reader 3006 may connect doors to segments. This mayinclude connecting all doors to their closest room segment (wall). Foreach door IFC reader 3006 may check which segment in the room is theclosest to it using the midpoint of the door and a vector to it fromeach segment of the room. The door attributes may be updated with theclosest point on the closest segment and the segment itself.

IFC reader 3006 may further be configured to Get internal elements. Thismay include extracting the elements and their data and assigning them tothe room they reside in. As a non-limiting example, IFC reader 3006 mayexecute some or all of the following operations in various combinationsand orders:

-   -   Filter based on category. For example, this may include        extracting all the elements of type ‘IfcFurniture’,        ‘IfcSystemFurnitureElement’, ‘IfcFlowTerminal’, ‘IfcStairs’.    -   Extract element data and geometry: For each of the elements        extracted, derive the bounding box coordinates from the        comments. Specifically look for these fields: Family, Category,        Area, Volume, System, Type, Material, Identity Data,        beamup_fur_number, beamup_fur_type, beamup_fur_category.    -   Assign element to room. For example, an element may be assigned        to the room if the room boundaries contain the element center        point (in 2D); the minimum elevation of the element is greater        than the room minimum elevation; or the distance from the bottom        of the room is smaller than the distance to the top of the room.

In some embodiments, IFC reader 3006 may further perform topologicalanalysis to create a connectivity list. A connectivity list in a roommay refer to a GUID list of all rooms that have a shared door/opening tothe current room. The connectivity list may be crucial in understandingthe topology of the plan. Creating the connectivity list may includebuilding a door map containing all doors and their corresponding rooms;for every room within the door map corresponding to the room, adding theGUID of the other rooms to its connectivity list; and based on the doormap finding doors that do not map to more than one room and assign themas ‘outside’ doors. An outside door may be defined as a door that leadsto only 1 room.

Based on one or more of the steps above performed by IFC Reader 3006,the site hierarchy may be complete and may be ready to be written to anew file, according to the BMD format.

Architecture 3000 may include various storage devices or mediums. Forexample, architecture 3000 may include cloud storage 3007. Cloud storage3007 may be any form of cloud-based storage platform or server, asdescribed throughout the disclosed embodiments. Clouds storage 3007 mayinclude data that is stored in persistent data stores (e.g. relationaldatabase, non-relational databases, object stores). Resources may holdinformation in clear text (such as JSON objects, simple text files, XMLfiles), binary data (such as pictures, videos, executables), or may beentries in databases. Example cloud storage may include, for example, aNoSQL document oriented database, such as, MongoDB™, or ahierarchical/directories based object (general purpose binary data)store, such as Amazon™ S3. This may include the use of an externalprovider (e.g., MongoDB Atlas™ or similar providers) for managing cloudstorage 3007.

Architecture 3000 may include various machine learning services forperforming various operations, as referred to throughout the presentdisclosure. In some embodiments, this may include feature detectionmicroservice 3008A. Feature detection microservice 3008A may be adedicated microservice for furniture/door detection and classificationthat receives images, and outputs detected furniture in the images.Feature detection microservice 3008A may host a deep learning modelbased on RetinaNet that accepts inferring requests via HTTP requestscontaining the images in bitmap format. The model may be trained, forexample, using a large set of floor plans, with bounding boxes of thedifferent features drawn on them and catalogued in a CSV file. Featuredetection microservice 3008A may execute the model with the image of thefloor plan which was generated by plotting the geometry, and return anHTTP response containing the predicted furniture in CSV format, whereeach row consisting of a inferred furniture and equipment label (e.g.“chair,” “light switch”), the geometry of the bounding box surroundingthe furniture and/or equipment, and a confidence rating (from 0 to 1).

In some embodiments, this may include room function microservice 3008B.The function of a room in an architectural plan (i.e. living room,office etc.) often holds important information for many decisionsregarding its design. An office, for example, will have a completelydifferent sensor array than a bedroom. An automatic design system may beconfigured to infer a room's function from its name, geometry, andfeatures in order to implement automatic decisions. Room functionmicroservice 3008B may be a service that hosts an XGBoost classifiermodel for inferring room function (office, bedroom, etc.) from itsfeatures. Room function microservice 3008B may request via HTTP messagesconsisting of the model's architectural features (room properties suchas area, perimeter length, number of doors, adjacent rooms, connectedrooms, and number of occurrences of each furniture type within theroom). The model may attempt to classify room functions based on theaforementioned features, e.g. a small room with a sink and a toiletshould be inferred as a bathroom. As an illustrative example, the modelmay be trained on a dataset of over 10,000 rooms and their features.

In some embodiments, the machine learning services may include naturallanguage processing (NLP) microservice 3008C. This may include the useof a natural language processing model to identify aspects of the floorplan or any elements included therein. For example, NPL microservice3008C may determine the name of a room or an object. However, in manycases the name is given without reference to any accepted standard ordefinition (an office might be labeled, “office” or “Ben's Room” or“Bureau” (french) “Officina” (spanish) or just “off 21”. NaturalLanguage Processing (NLP) is a machine learning model used for inferringsemantic meaning from text. It may be used for inferring a standardizedmeaning from room, furniture and/or equipment metadata text (such asname and description). Thus, “Sink 120×70 White/Gray” may be inferred as“Sink”, “chez Lounge” as “sofa” and “boy's room” as “toilet”. NPLmicroservice 3008C may be built using a word2vec library spacey whichturns words into n-dimensional vectors and measures the distancesbetween these vectors. NPL microservice 3008C may be trained byconstructing catalogs of texts which signify the same thing as therequired designation (for example, the catalog of words signifyingtoilet include: WC, loo, mens room, gents, womens, 00, etc.). A distancemethod may then applied between an input word and all the words from thedifferent categories, and the category exhibiting the shortest averagedistance from the input is chosen, with a confidence rating reflectingthat distance. Heuristics may further improve precision by identifyingexact sequences of phrases used in the catalog and overriding theword2vec results.

The machine learning services may also include room borders microservice3008D, which may be configured to identify room borders and wallcandidates by using a machine learning room segmentation model. Themodel may be run by sending an HTTP request (with the image in JPEGformat as payload) to a dedicated microservice that hosts a deeplearning model for room segmentation. Room borders microservice 3008Dmay use a UNET+ attention architecture to segment walls and rooms froman image. The model may be trained using a dataset of hundreds of floorplans with rooms walls marked on them as polylines and stored in theCOCO JSON format. Room borders microservice 3008D may return the walland room prediction in the same JSON format.

In some embodiments, architecture 3000 may include a semantic enrichmentservice 3011. This service may be an orchestrator of other servicesmaking up the entire flow of enriching an image PDF, CAD, BIM file, orderived BMD file with room functions and/or classifying furniture andequipment according to semantic designations. Other example servicesprovided by semantic enrichment service 3011 may include furniture andequipment classification, room function classification service, and orNLP modeling for inferring meaning from text. Upon instantiation,semantic enrichment service 3011 may subscribe to a dedicated SQS RVTderived BMD enrichment request queue. When a message is sent to theaforementioned request queue, semantic enrichment service 3011 mayreceive it via SQS' message broker. The request message may contain allof the resources and information required to execute the enrichmentflow. This may include the S3 folder path to the BMD file; the S3 folderpath to the floor plans pictures of the accessed floor plan (image, CAD,PDF or BIM file), as previously generated as part of the image or CAD orPDF or RVT to BMD translation flow; and/or the S3 folder path to a JSONfile, consisting of the properties of the floor plans picture, such asthe relative dimensions of the floor plans. This information may be usedto associate BMD geometry with the floor plan pictures.

As a non-limiting example, semantic enrichment may include some or allof the following operations in various combinations and orders:

-   -   Floor plan pictures are sent for feature detection and        classification.    -   Machine learning generated CSV furniture bounding boxes are        associated and matched with BMD furniture and equipment based on        IOU (intersection over union).    -   The BMD is traversed for furniture and equipment metadata and        geometry. The furniture is being extracted into groups, based on        the metadata of the furniture (name, description, etc). Each        group's metadata is called for NLP inferring be inferred as        “Toilet”, and also receive a higher confidence rating.    -   Furniture and equipment type is elected by comparing NLP        confidence rating with deep learning confidence rating. And        assembled into a set of features for each room.    -   A service hosting the room function model is called via an HTTP        request consisting of all the assembled features.    -   The BMD is enriched with the inferred room functions (each room        object in the BMD is populated with an additional “function”        field, where values are strings such as “Bathroom”, “Kitchen”,        “Corridor”, etc.) and identified furniture and equipment        semantic designations/labels.    -   Semantic enrichment service 3011 may update the BMD in S3 (by        reuploading the BMD to its original S3 folder path location),        and sends an SQS message to the CAD enrichment response queue.        The message indicates the operation is complete, and contains        all the request's fields as well.

In some embodiments, architecture 3000 may include a design manager3012. Design manager 3012 may be responsible for receiving input fromthe user and then generating optimal device locations, types and genericcharacteristics. Design manager 3012 may be responsible for performingvarious generative analysis methods, as described throughout the presentdisclosure. For example, design manager 3012 may choose the correctmodel of equipment (e.g., a sensor) from a catalog. Design manager 3012may generate a wiring diagram and choose secondary equipment. The resultof the process may be displayed to the user on the screen and exportedin several file formats. The flow of information within design manager3012 may be complex. As an illustrative example, design manager 3012 mayperform one or more of the following steps:

-   -   Add requirements and constraints to a room using dashboard 3001.    -   Send a simulation request to simulation manager 3013 (described        below).    -   Fetch rooms geometric data from a cloud storage, such as AMAZON        S3.    -   Aggregate all requirements within the rooms context, by their        space-filter.    -   If a requirement specified subset of devices, fetch them from        the catalog and constant a generic device range.    -   Generate room generic simulation request and send it to        simulation-runner 3014 microservice as an SQS message.    -   Consume a room simulation request via the relevant queue.    -   Preprocess the request, if necessary, to split the request to        several requests and run in parallel or in series.    -   Construct a simulation from each request.    -   Optimize (Generic simulation) using simulation runner 3014 or a        machine learning model 3018.    -   Store the result in Redis™, and send status to the response que.    -   In simulation manager 3013, wait for all simulations to finish.    -   From each result extract the parameters of every generic        result-device, fetch all items in the catalog subset and choose        the closest devices to results devices, send the new request to        simulation-runner 3014, for example, via SQS message.    -   Preprocess and construct a specific simulation.    -   Optimize (see simulation runner 3014 and catalog 16).    -   Store the result in Redis™, and send status to the response que.    -   Wait for all simulations to finish, post-process the results.    -   Send a request to wiring service 3015, for example, via SQS        message.    -   Send a request to auxiliary equipment selector 3017, for        example, via SQS message.    -   Store the final results in cloud storage 3007 and display them        to the user using dashboard 3001.

The generative analysis may start with a user setting requirements for aroom and saving them in a cloud storage such as AWS S3. Requirementsmight contain goals such as a functional requirement applicable to thewhole room or specific Areas of Interest (AOI) (such as requirements forpixel density, sound level, signal coverage etc.). The requirements mayfurther include specific areas or areas of exclusion/disinterest (whicha device must not cover). In some embodiments, the requirements maydefine constraints such as areas on non-placement (e.g., stored as adictionary containing the requirement type and a list of boundary pointson which it applies); areas/paths/points of preferred placement ofpredefined devices (e.g., stored as a dictionary containing informationof the requirement type, the geometry it applies on, and a list ofdevice filters describing the subset of catalog items that should beplaced); and/or preferred devices, which may be listed as specificcatalog items, such as branch, series, or manufacturer of catalog, orany combination of them. In some embodiments, the requirements maydefine certain angles, such as an angle span or a direct angle fromwhich an Area of Interest (AOI) should be covered. Angle span may bestored as a dictionary containing the start angle in radians and theangle span size. For example, the angle span may be stored as:

  Angles = {  {   “startAngle”: 2.357,   “angleSize”: 1.571  },  {  “startAngle”: 0.0,   “angleSize”: 0.707  } }

In some embodiments, the requirements may contain a space filter entry,which may be a string or dictionary including guides/index of the BMDelement that the requirement is applied on. In the case of specific areawithin this BMD element, the space filter entry may include additionalgeometry data that describes the sub region (e.g., boundarypoints/polyline's points/single point coordinates). An example key valuedictionary space-filter may include:

  {  “building”:0,  “level”:“fb40ace0-e5e6-11ea-a508-53f05618a1bb”, “room”:“33bb7230-e5e7-11ea-9ec2-0b6dff2c6e54” }

An example string space-filter may include:

  “{\“building\”:0,\“level\”:\“fb40ace0-e5e6-11ea-a508-53f05618a1bb\”,\“room\”:\“33bb7230-e5e7-11ea-9ec2- 0b6dff2c6e54\”}”

As shown in FIG. 30, architecture 3000 may further include a simulationmanager 3013. Simulation manager 3013 may be a microservice responsiblefor receiving generation requests for a system via HTTP from designmanager 3012 and to initiate a simulation process. Once a generationrequest is received, simulation manager 3013 may fetch all requirementsfrom a data structure and aggregate them per space; dispatch jobs forrunner-services via SQS message; and collect the results and store themin cloud storage 3007. Simulation manager 3013 may also communicate withother services such as catalog-service 3016 to collect data regardingcatalog items that should propagate into the simulations.

In order to map optimization parameters to device parameters moreefficiently, in some cases, simulation manager 3013 may associatecertain devices with specific requirements. For example, if a simulationof four devices is requested and the room contains two AOI requirements,it may be beneficial to target at least one device per AOI and to limitits search space in such a way that increases the convergence changes ofthe optimization.

When a simulation generation request is received, the relevantrequirements and the geometric description of the room may be fetchedfrom the cloud storage 3007. Simulation manager 3013 may pre-processthem if necessary. A request pre-process could contain some of, anycombination of, or none of the following sub-processes:

-   -   Selection of simulation sampling method, and calculation of        simulation resolution as number of sampling points, if        applicable.    -   Based on different types of goals and requirements, and if multi        objective—scalar optimization is used—weights calculation of        different optimization objectives such as objective's        coefficient and power, and some additional argument if        applicable.    -   Optimizer constraints setting—based on the relevant requirement,        some of the optimization parameters that are responsible for        device's position, resolution, rotation or other parameters        could be constrained or removed. Constraints may be pairs of an        array in the following shape:    -   lower bound: [α1, α2, α3 . . . . αn]    -   upper bound: [β1, β2, β3 . . . βn]    -   Where:    -   n: number of optimization parameters    -   ai≤βi∀i∈n

After the request has been pre-processed, if necessary, it can be splitinto two or more simulations that differ by the number of requesteddevices and some additional parameters. From this stage the requestsmight be processed in parallel (by dispatching each request as aseparate job on a cloud instance) or in series. Requests may be sent toa dedicated microservice as a SQS message.

In some embodiments, one of the requirements may specify more than onedevice. In such instances simulation manager 3013 may conduct a genericsimulation. The problem of selecting a specific device from a given setof catalog items, is combinatorial by its nature. As such, it maymultiply the processing time of an optimization because for eachcombination of devices, a separate simulation may be conducted. In orderto avoid running numerous simulations just for model selection, theconcept of a generic simulation may be introduced. The goal of a genericsimulation is to select the devices from the requested sub-group thatare more likely to produce optimal results. The generic simulationprocess may include some or all of the following sub-process:

Device range calculation: Simulation manager 3013 fetches the sub-set ofitems from the catalog DB (mongoDB or equivalent) according to devicefilters on the requirement, and calculates the effective range of someparameters such as but not constraints to resolution, vertical angle,horizontal rotation, catalog frequency, and cost. Once a device range isset, simulation manager 3013 may simulate the device as a generic devicethat can get any value in the properties selected ranges. For example, asensor simulation requirement which specifies the three followingdevices:

Device 1: {megapixels: 6, hfov: 24, vfov: 18}

Device 2: {megapixels: 4, hfov: 100, vfov: 75}

Device 3: {megapixels: 5, hfov: 60, vfov: 45}

would produce the following device range:

  “device_range”: {  “megapixels”: {“min”: 4, “max”: 6},  “hfov”:{“min”: 24, “max”: 100},  “vfov”: {“min”: 18, “max”: 75} }.

Therefore, this selected device will be able to get all the values inthose ranges during an iteration (cycle) of optimization.

New request construction: A new request will be constructed and sent asan SQS message to simulation manager 3013 to conduct an optimization.

After receiving a message that the generic optimization is complete (oronce the equipment location is predetermined by the user), thesimulation manager 3013 may generate a specific simulation. The specificsimulation may be generated by one or more of the followingsubprocesses:

-   -   Device Selection: From a generic simulation result the algorithm        selects the closest device in the sub-set. The algorithm might        score each device in the subset by the relevant field or conduct        another optimization in order to select the best match. In the        case of multiple close device scores, one or more preferences        may be applied to select an item. For example, a less costly        item might be preferred.    -   New request construction: After selecting the closest devices in        the sub-set, a new request is constructed, with the properties        of the selected devices. If applicable, some of the optimization        parameters responsible for the selected parameters might be        constrained or removed to improve runtime.    -   A new request is constructed and sent to simulation manager 3013        as an SQS message.    -   Optimization is performed.    -   Returning results: The specific simulation result will be stored        temporarily in a in memory data structure such as Redis™, which        may send an SQS message back to the microservice that originated        the request that the job is done.

If a simulation request was split to several requests, a post processingmight be conducted after all results are calculated. In someembodiments, the post processing may include removal of redundantresults. For example, if in a group of result, a result with a redundantdevice (device which its effect on the score is marginal) that resultmight be removed. Post processing may also include removal ofinefficient results. Given some threshold, two results may have similarscores but the one more expensive/the one with more devices may beremoved. For example, where

-   -   r′: tested result    -   S(r): result's score    -   D(r): number of devices in a result        r′ will be removed if ∃r∈R≠r′, where S(r′)≤S(r)∨D(r′)>D(r).

In some embodiments, post processing may further include resultsranking. For example, according to an overall score (fitness)efficiency, the remaining results in the group may be ranked. The mostefficient results may be presented first to the user. For example, for agiven margin, M, r1 may be ranked higher than r2 ifS(r1)≥S(r2)−M∨D(r′)<D(r).

After post-process, results may be saved into cloud storage 3007 (e.g.,in Amazon™ S3 or equivalent) in a key-value dictionary, such as a JSONfile. The results may later be accessed by each client (e.g., throughdashboard 3001) that has access and would like to query the results. Insome embodiments, the group of room's results can be scrolled by theuser. In this stage, a result modification may also be possible. Thismay include manually changing certain device parameters by a user, suchas, height, resolution, focal length, rotations, location, or any othersimilar parameters. Modifications may also include changing a devicemodel to another model existing in the catalog or adding or removing aspecific device. Various other modifications are described throughoutthe present disclosure. Based on a modification, simulation manager 3013may extract the requested new device parameters from cloud storage 3007or a local storage, fetch the request that originated the result, modifyit with the new parameters, and run a new simulation of a single cycle.This single-cycle simulation request may be sent, for example, directlythrough an HTTP request to the runner service. In this example, theresults may be stored locally at the client storage, and cloud service3007 may be updated only on a specific save operation.

Architecture 3000 may include a simulation runner 3014, as shown in FIG.30. Simulation runner 3014 may be a microservice responsible forreceiving requests (via SQS) for a device placement simulation.Simulation runner 3014 may, for example, receive the request, preprocessit if necessary, run the optimization, post-process the result and sendit back to the result que. Optimization may take place, for example, inan algorithm, which may receive various inputs, including the number ofparameters to optimize, the type of the optimization(minimize/maximize), and a forwarded function that takes the givenparameters as an input and yields a scalar (fitness/score). In somecases, the optimizer may receive additional parameters such as stoppingconditions or an initial state. GALAPAGOS is an example optimizationsolver that may be used. CMA-ES is another example of an optimizationthat may be used, which combines an evolutionary strategy withstatistical learning. Machine learning based algorithms, such as RBFOpt,may be used. The optimization solver may differ depending on the taskand nature of the optimization. For different systems, other solvers andalgorithms might be more suitable. An example case that may require adifferent solver is the placement of smoke detectors. The smokedetectors may need to be positioned exactly X meters apart from eachother and may need to be spaced to fill the room geometry. This may beaccomplished by using a relaxation-based sphere packing algorithm with aslightly decreased offset to achieve overlap and complete coverage.

Various optimization objectives may be used for the optimizationprocess. Optimization objectives may refer to a set of functions withoptimized values. Example optimization objectives may include a coveragescore (i.e. the percentage of a room which is covered in the desiredfunctional requirement), a gross coverage score (i.e. the percentage ofa room which is covered but not necessarily in the functionalrequirement), an AOI score (i.e. the percentage of the AOIs beingcovered), and/or a placement score (i.e. based on the percentage ofdevices). In some embodiments, an optimization objective may include aproximity penalty. For example, where n is a number of devices, T is aminimum allowed threshold distance between two devices, and Dij is adistance from device i to device j, a penalty may be defined by theequation:

${{Penalty} = {\Pi\;{{ij}\left( {1 - \frac{Dij}{T}} \right)}\mspace{14mu}{for}\mspace{14mu}{every}\mspace{14mu} i}},{j \in n},{{{where}\mspace{14mu}{Dij}} < T}$

In some embodiments, such as for CCTV, VSS, or other systems, anoptimization objective may include pixel density describing the numberof pixels per meter (or similar metric). Some standards use pixeldensity to construct different functional requirements. In someembodiments, this may include a range of pixel density categories, suchas “monitor” (25 pixels/m), “detect” (50 pixels/m), “observe” (125pixels/m), “recognize” (250 pixels/m), “identify” (500 pixels/m),“inspect” (2000 pixels/m), or other categories.

In some embodiments, an optimization objective may include meeting afunctional range. A functional range may be the measurement in which thespecific device is functioning above the requested requirement. In asensor system, such as CCTV or VSS system, the functional range may bethe distance from a camera to the target in which an object could beseen in the desired pixel density (see Pixel density). For example,given a pixel density, Dp, a vertical resolution Rv, and a verticalfield of view Av (in radians), a functional range (R) can be calculatedin the following way:

${{for}\mspace{14mu}{fisheye}\mspace{14mu}{lens}\text{:}\mspace{14mu} R} = \frac{Rv}{{Av}*{Dp}}$${{for}\mspace{14mu}{rectilinear}\mspace{14mu}{lens}\text{:}\mspace{14mu} R} = \frac{Rv}{2\left( {{Dp}*{\tan\left( {{Av}\text{/}2} \right)}} \right)}$For example, a camera with fisheye lens and vertical fov=3.14 r,vertical resolution=2048 pixels, and functional requirement of“recognize” may have a functional range=2.6 m. Similarly, a camera witha rectilinear lens having a vertical fov=1.51 r, a verticalresolution=2048 pixels, and a functional requirement of “recognize” mayhave a functional range=4.79 m. These values are provided by way ofexample, and various other camera properties or functional rangeequations may be used.

According to some embodiments, architecture 3000 may include a wiringservice 3015. Wiring service 3015 may be used to provide wiring pathsolutions for a given BMD level and a list of devices. The service maygenerate a wiring path for some or all of the devices (which mayrepresent a starting point) to a given headend (which may represent adestination point). In some embodiments, the process performed by wiringservice 3015 may be divided into two parts: a grid creation and pathcalculation for a given list of starting points and an endpoint.

The grid creation may include, for each level in the BMD, creating agrid (nodes and edges) and associating each grid to the level GUID anduploading it to be used later by the second part of the service. Thegrid creation may include a room planes calculation. For each room, thismay include vectorizing the room segments and creating unit vectors.Wiring service 3015 may then remove duplicate vectors and add theremaining to a list. Next, wiring service 3015 may calculate and savethe amount of repeating vectors for any direction (parallel andorthogonal included). Wiring service 3015 may then sort the results bysize and decide on the ‘winner’ vector (e.g., based on the highestamount of other parallel vectors). Finally, the room planes calculationmay include creating a plane using the ‘winner’ as the X axis.

In some embodiments, the grid creation may include plane rotation andaggregation. For example, wiring service 3015 may rotate all planes sothat every plane which is similar but flipped (X and Y axes in one planeare Y and X axes in another plane) will be the same. The function mayaggregate similar planes into groups so each group will represent adifferent plane, and filter each group to contain only one plane,resulting in unique planes.

The grid creation may include room grouping and perimeter determination.For example, wiring service 3015 may aggregate all rooms with the sameplane and create a perimeter for the entire level by offsetting each ofthe rooms outwards, merging their boundaries and offsetting the resultinwards, creating a single polygon that represents the perimeter of therooms. The grid creation phase may further merge similar rooms. For eachgroup of rooms of the same plane, wiring service 3015 offset theirpolygons outwards and merge the polygons, creating a polygon for each ofthe aggregated rooms with similar planes.

In some embodiments, the grid creation may include grid population. Foreach of the joined rooms' polygons, wiring service 3015 may create nodes(grid points) parallel to the plane of the polygon. Wiring service 3015may filter nodes that are outside of the polygon. Wiring service 3015may then perform a triangulation technique, such as a Delaunaytriangulation to create triangles from three grid points in such a waythat for any given triangle there is no other point inside thecircumcircle of the triangle. The algorithm may also be configured tomake the smallest triangles possible. The result of the algorithm mayrepresent the possible paths from each point to any point on the gridand the triangles may represent the edges of the grid.

The grid creation phase may then include converting the triangles toquads. For example, wiring service 3015 may try to merge every twotriangles that share the same longest edge. For every two triangles, ifthey share an edge and the edge is the biggest in both triangles, wiringservice 3015 may create a quad from the four edges that are not shared.Wiring service 3015 may leave any remaining triangle and add them to theresult. Wiring service 3015 may the perform a quad filtering, in whichthe remaining triangles are filtered out using the perimeter polygon thewiring service 3015 created previously.

Wiring service 3015 may then populate the grid. For example, using theresults from the previous step, wiring service 3015 may create a gridusing the networkx library. Nodes and edges may be created for everypoint and line. Every node in the grid may contain information about itsposition and its neighbors, and every edge may hold information to beused to calculate wiring paths including distance from closest wall andcontaining room functions.

As noted above, after the grid creation phase, wiring service 2015 mayperform a path calculation phase. For home run wiring (described ingreater detail above), after the grid is laid out, a modified Dijkstraalgorithm may be used to calculate the shortest path between each of thedevices to the head end (e.g., a control panel, etc.). In someembodiments, the Dijkstra algorithm may be modified in various ways. Forexample, the algorithm may be modified to take into account the distancefrom walls (e.g., preferring paths that pass a certain distance fromwalls), take into account the function of the room (e.g., preferringcorridors and public spaces), and attempt to achieve straight paths byapplying a turn penalty. In cases where several head ends are present inthe floor plan, the algorithm may run once for each head end and thenmay choose the head end closest to the device. For shortest path wiring,the process may be similar, but may use a different algorithm, such as av-opt algorithm, as the starting point.

In some embodiments, architecture 3000 may include a catalog 3016.Catalog 3016 may be a data structure (such as a table in MongoDB)containing multiple items and their relevant properties. Thoseproperties can be queried by different services in the ecosystem.Catalog 3016 may be used in several places in the generative analysisprocess. Some items of catalog 3016 may contain necessary data for asimulation to be constructed. For example, in a sensor system, some ofthe relevant information may be related to megapixels, resolution, hfov,vfov, cost (msrp), architecture (fisheye/rectilinear/other), or otherrelevant information. An example catalog item entry may include:

{“_id”:{“$oid”:“5efd8682ccc797002ef5ef02”},“deviceType”:“lens”,“features”:{“focalLength”:“5-10mm”,“angle”:“39-89°”,“colorLens”:false,“B&W”:true,“LPF”:false,“thermal”:false,“microphone”:true,“colour”:“white”,“EANCode”:4.43432803055+12,“customCode”:“90021900”},“manufacturer”:“TBDH”,“msrp”:299,“shortDescription”:“6MP 6,5-9 mm (Night), White”,“longDescription”:“Sensor module TBDH (focallength 1.5-10 mm, f/1.6-2.3, 39°-89° × 29°-65°) · 6 Megapixel (night) ·Max. image size: 6MP (3072 × 2048) · IP66, −35 to 65° C./−22 to 140° F.(only with vandal cover),white”,“series”:“/”,“name”:“vss-max-20344”,“sku”:“vss-max-20344-240097”,“_v”:0}

In some embodiments, a simulation requirement may contain a specificrequest for a subset of catalog items. This sub-set may be representedas an array of filters, each one being a key-value dictionary containinginformation of the selected branch in the catalog tree. A branch may bea whole manufacturer, a series, or a single device. In some embodiments,a device filter may be a manufacturer filter, which may specify anentire manufacturer. For example, for a Manufacturer X, the filter mayinclude {name: “manufacturerX/outdoor”, manufacturer: “manufacturerX”}.In some embodiments, the device filter may be a series filter. Forexample, a series filter specifying an “outdoor” series for ManufacturerX may include {name: “manufacturerX/outdoor”, manufacturer:““manufacturerX”, series: “/outdoor” }. Similarly, a device filter maybe a single device filter. For example a single device filter mayspecify an A-model-lens036 model in “outdoor” series by {name:“manufacturerX/outdoor/a-model/a-model-lens-088”, id:“5eaec595f5c9605f389f12f5”}

Architecture 3000 may include auxiliary equipment selector 3017, whichmay be a dedicated service for determining the type and amount ofaccessory equipment necessary to complete a system design. In someimplementations, auxiliary equipment selector 3017 may receive an HTTPrequest for auxiliary equipment calculation. A request may specify anidentifier of primary equipment and other variables, including userinput or constraints that may be used to select auxiliary equipment.Given the ID of the system and the other relevant type of resources, forexample, the service may dispatch HTTP requests to the services that areresponsible for managing the resource, (e.g. for the video resultscontaining camera information) such as service sending, for example, anHTTP request to the video simulations manager. In some embodiments, anassociation between auxiliary and primary equipment may stored. In otherembodiments, no association may be stored as the scope of the auxiliarycalculation may a single report (e.g. calculating one at the time ofgenerating a bill of material). The actual resources that are required(alongside the aforementioned variables and constraints) for auxiliarycalculation may be stored in S3 or in MongoDB, on a per resource basis.Auxiliary equipment selector 3017 may select equipment through acascading process of satisfying successive requirements (e.g., asdepicted in greater detail in FIG. 20B).

For example, when designing a video surveillance system (VSS), once anumber of cameras have been determined and their corresponding wiringdiagrams generated, additional auxiliary equipment may need to beselected. Such accessories to the VSS may include a patch panel, anethernet switch, a UPS, and an equipment rack. In this example,auxiliary equipment selector 3017 may implement some or all of followingsub-processes in various orders as depicted in FIG. 20B:

-   -   A wiring algorithm 2050 may generate homerun schedule 2052 using        camera data 2042, which may include technical specifications of        cameras (e.g., focal length) and respective equipment placement        location data of the cameras. Camera data 2042 may pass        candidate or generic camera information to wiring algorithm        2050, rather than selected cameras, and wiring algorithm 2050        may use that information to generate home run cable schedule        2052. Alternatively or additionally, camera data 2042 may        include camera data associated with cameras selected for a floor        plan, which may be used by wiring algorithm 2050. More        generally, to generate home run schedule 2052, wiring algorithm        2050 may implement any process for generating a wiring diagram        as disclosed herein. Home run schedule may specify specific a        number of cables (e.g., power or communication cables) traveling        between cameras and a patch panel, for example, and it may        depict such cable paths in a 2D floor plan.    -   Camera selector 2048 may select a camera using any of the        methods for selecting and placing equipment disclosed herein.        The selection may be based on information received from camera        data 2042 and database 2046 including, for example, technical        specifications, floor plan data, or other information suitable        for selecting primary equipment. In some examples, camera        selector 2048 may filter database 2046 according to technical        specifications or user preferences 2044, and choose a model        camera based on functional requirements. Additionally or        alternatively, cameras may be chosen based on cost.    -   A patch panel may be selected by finding a panel that meets        system requirements (e.g., a minimum number of inputs and        desired redundancy level) at minimum costs. Patch panel finder        may consider information stored in database 2046, such as        compatibility rules, device classification data relating to        candidate patch panels or technical specification data of        candidate patch panels. For example, patch panel finder 2054 may        receive home run schedule 2052 and identify a patch panel from        among candidate patch panels. Patch panel finder 2054 may be an        algorithm of auxiliary equipment selector 3017. In some cases,        patch panel finder 2054 may choose a panel that satisfies a        minimum number of incoming cables and a desired level of        redundancy. A desired redundancy may be received from        user-defined preferences 2044, for example, while the minimum        number of cables may be determined according to homerun schedule        2052. Generally, patch panel finder may implement a combination        of calculations using compatibility rules or machine learning        models to select patch panels.    -   An ethernet switch may be selected according to a number of        incoming cables and desired level of redundancy. As shown by way        of example in FIG. 20B, an ethernet switch selector 2056 may        select an ethernet switch from among candidate switches whose        technical specifications may be stored in database 2046.        Ethernet switch selector 2054 may be an algorithm of auxiliary        equipment selector 3017. In some examples, ethernet switch        selector 2054 may receive input from patch panel finder 2054        regarding a selected panel (e.g., a number of cables), input        from database 2046 (e.g., candidate ethernet switch data,        equipment classification data and technical specifications of        primary equipment in a floor plan), input from camera selector        2048 (e.g., selected camera identifiers or technical        specifications), and input from user-defined preferences 2044        (e.g., a desired level of redundancy). Accordingly, ethernet        switch selector 2056 may consider the various inputs and select        the switch which best satisfies functional requirements from        among candidate switches. Generally, ethernet switch selector        may implement a combination of calculations using compatibility        rules or machine learning models to select ethernet switches.    -   .As shown by way of example in FIG. 20B, recorder selector 2060        may select a recorder configured to store image or video output        of selected cameras (e.g., a disc, drive, cloud storage        location, server storage location, or any other storage media)        from among candidate recorders whose technical specifications        may be stored in database 2046. Recorder selector 2060 may be an        algorithm of auxiliary equipment selector 3017. In some        examples, recorder selector 2060 may receive input from database        2046 (e.g., candidate recorder data, equipment classification        data and technical specifications of primary equipment in a        floor plan), input from camera selector 2048 (e.g., selected        camera identifiers or technical specifications), and input from        user-defined preferences 2044 (e.g., a desired level of        redundancy). Accordingly, recorder selector 2060 may consider        the various inputs and select the recorder which best satisfies        functional requirements from among candidate recorders. As an        example, a recorder may be selected based on a storage        requirement for storing video for multiple cameras over a time        period (e.g., 200 Mb multiplied by a number of cameras and a        number of days), a number of incoming cables and desired level        of redundancy, and cost. Generally, recorder selector 2060 may        implement a combination of calculations using compatibility        rules or machine learning models to select recorders.    -   UPS selector 2062 may select a UPS from among candidate UPS        devices whose technical specifications may be stored in database        2046. UPS selector 2062 may be an algorithm of auxiliary        equipment selector 3017. In some examples, UPS selector 2062 may        receive input from database 2046 (e.g., candidate UPS data,        equipment classification data and technical specifications of        primary equipment in a floor plan), input from camera selector        2048 (e.g., selected camera identifiers or technical        specifications), input from user-defined preferences 2044 (e.g.,        a desired level of redundancy), input from ethernet switch        selector 2056 (e.g., selected ethernet switch identifiers or        technical specifications, cable specifications), input from        record selector 2060 (e.g., selected recorder identifiers or        technical specifications). Accordingly, UPS selector 2062 may        consider the various inputs and select the UPS device which best        satisfies functional requirements from among candidate UPS        devices. As an example, a UPS may be selected according to        electrical power needs (e.g., total load in Watts). A DC-BUS may        be selected based on a number of batteries at a particular        voltage, and a battery needed may be selected based on a        multiplying a current, by a factor, by a number of back up        hours. The factor may be 1.5 for backup periods of under 2        hours, 1.3 for backup periods of over 2 hours, for example.    -   By way of example, rack selector 2058 may select one or more        racks from among candidate racks whose technical specifications        may be stored in database 2046. Rack selector 2058 may be an        algorithm of auxiliary equipment selector 3017. In some        examples, rack selector 2058 may receive input from database        2046 (e.g., candidate rack data, equipment classification data        and technical specifications of primary equipment in a floor        plan), receive input from patch panel finder 2054 regarding a        selected panel (e.g., a number of cables), input from ethernet        switch selector 2056 (e.g., selected ethernet switch identifiers        or technical specifications, cable specifications), input from        record selector 2060 (e.g., selected recorder identifiers or        technical specifications). input from UPS selector 2062 (e.g.,        selected UPS device identifiers or technical specifications).        Accordingly, Rack selector 2058 may consider the various inputs        and select one or more racks which best satisfy functional        requirements from among candidate racks. As an example, a rack        may be selected based on depth (maximal depth of all previous        devices) and calculating size of cables. Accordingly, rack        selector may generate a rack schedule 2064, which may be        provided to a user, stored in memory, included in a bill of        materials, or otherwise outputted.    -   Embodiments may include a dedicated service receives an HTTP        request for auxiliary equipment calculation, consisting of the        ID of the relevant information as well as any other relevant        variables and constraints

Although the Example of FIG. 20B depicts a process for selectingparticular auxiliary equipment associated with cameras, embodiments arenot limited to this example. Auxiliary equipment selector 3017 mayundertake similar processes to select various auxiliary equipmentassociated with other types of primary equipment, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

Referring again to FIG. 30, embodiments may include a machine learning(ML) sensor design module 3018. For example, for simple room geometry(e.g., rectilinear rooms having one to two doors or windows per wall), ageneric device location and properties may be predicted using a CNNmodel with two-variable regression. As compared to using a more complexmodel, an approach using a two-variable regression CNN model may reduceruntime of a simulation by a factor of 10, 100, or even more. In someimplementations, the CNN model may be trained on a data set containingembedded vectors which represents simulation requirements and room'sgeometry, and their related device locations and properties. The datamay be sourced from results of the heuristic optimization processperformed on a large amount of pre-generated rooms and functionalrequirements. In some examples, a dataset may be increased with each runof the optimization process to improve the precision of the model. Anexact catalog item may be determined using a device selection simulation(e.g., a simulation of simulation manager 3013).

Embodiments may include outputting a solution. For example, app servermay transmit data from a microservice of architecture 3000 to reports3019. In some embodiments, reports 3019 is a component of dashboard 3001(not shown). Generally, reports 3019 may include text, numeric, orgraphical data in any file format that includes information representingor describing floor plans, equipment, or other aspects of a structuraldesign. As an example, reports 3019 may include a list of material or amanufacturer dataset, as disclosed in greater detail elsewhere herein.

In addition, reports 3019 may include a report service. After agenerative analysis process completes, a report service of reports 3019may generate a report or sets of reports describing equipment needed bythe system. Users may access and interact with reports 3019 usingdashboard 3001 (e.g., by retrieving and displaying data from reports3019). Further, in response to requests, reports may be generated by areport service of reports 3019. Requests may be initiated via dashboard3001 based on user input, for example. In some cases, a report servicemay send an HTTP requests for relevant resources or microservices thatare responsible for locating and choosing the equipment that make up thereport such as design manager 3012, simulation manager 3013, simulationrunner 3014, wiring service 3015, catalog 3016, auxiliary equipmentselector 3017, ML sensor design model 3018, or other components ofarchitecture 3000. These services may fetch data from storage (e.g., aMONGODB or S3), and provide the data to reports 3019.

After receiving data from services, the service processes the resultsand writes data to a file (e.g., a text file, an HTML file, an EXCELspreadsheet, or any other type of files). The file may contain dataregarding the equipment model, type, characteristics, properties,pricing, location, setting and quantities. Data from the file or thefile itself may be returned to the user via an HTTP response sent todashboard 3001. Dashboard 3001 may enable a user to download such dataor files. In some embodiments, the data or files may be sent to a user,CRM, or ERP system via, for example, an HTTP response in case of APIinterfacing, or via a dedicated services/software (such as email serversin case of an email).

Disclosed embodiments may include outputting solutions by exportingdesigns in 2D or 3D format using elements of exporter 3020. In somecases, exporter 3020 may cause an image, CAD, or BIM object to return toa user populated with various additional information, including symbols,blocks, family instances of selected equipment, or other designelements. These elements may have placement location selected by, forexample, a generative analysis. Output may contain properties of suchelements (e.g., equipment type, technical specification, or othercharacteristics). Designs may be sent to a user via multiple mediumssuch as email or via dedicated API, for example. The designs may beserialized, for example, into a human readable format (such as JSON orXML), and then sent to a user, CRM, or ERP system via, for example, anHTTP response in case of API interfacing, or via a dedicatedservices/software (such as email servers in case of an email). Further,a design export flow may include different types of microservices,including, for example an exporter orchestrator service, an exportservice, and a post adaptation results service.

For example, an export orchestrator service may receive requests fordesign export. A request may contain an identifier of a design, systemswithin a design to be exported, or other information related to adesign. Then, an export orchestrator may dispatch requests to adedicated export service, which may return JSON objects. These objectsmay describe 2D symbols, CAD blocks REVIT objects, IFC family instances,or any other BIM objects adapted to a design.

An export flow (where a design is exported onto the originating drawing)may involve, for example, three types of microservices as follows:

-   -   An export orchestrator service (service #1) may receive requests        for design exports. A request that may contain, for example, the        ID of the design, and the desired systems within the design to        be exported.    -   The export orchestrator may dispatch requests, for example, for        each individual system for dedicated system export services        (service #2) such as, for example, a video exporter service).    -   The system export service may return, for example, JSON objects        that are being adapted per the originating drawing the system's        geometry was simulated against.    -   The post adaptation results may then be sent to a service        (service #3), for example, that is responsible for receiving the        adapted results

A post adaptation results service may receive adapted results and exportthem (e.g., overlay or add them) onto an original input drawing. Forexample, given an image input, exporting adapted results may includeusing a plotter which draws lines over the original. For a CAD file,exporting may involve using an Open Design Alliance (ODA) based softwareto add block entities to the original field. And for BIM files, anapplication may be used to generate family instances according topre-programmed families of equipment, locate those families, writefamily information into a BIM object and associate these families withrelevant entities (e.g., walls, doors, rooms, or other features of afloor plan). Further, for an IFC file, the original IFC file may beenriched with the generated designs according to the one or more of thefollowing operations, performed in various orders. Using a function(e.g., ifcopenshell) a post adaptation results service may write newentities assigned to a correct room. To add a new geometrical element toan IFC file, the service may create corresponding entities to supportthe new geometrical element (geometrical data, semantic data etc). Tocreate an element geometry, for example, post adaptation results servicemay execute some or all of the following operations in variouscombinations and orders:

-   -   Create an IfcAxis2Placement3D from Location, Axis and        RefDirection.    -   Create an IfcLocalPlacement from Location, Axis and Direction        using the previous IfcAxis2Placement3D and        createIfcLocalPlacement command.    -   Create an IfcPolyLine from a list of points using        createlfcPolyLine.    -   Create an IfcExtrudedAreaSolid from a list of points using the        following commands: createIfcArbitraryClosedProfileDef and        createIfcExtrudedAreaSolid.    -   Create IfcShapeRepresentation and IfcProductDefinitionShape.    -   Create the corresponding ifc object with all of the above        information.    -   Assign the ifc object to the correct building storey hierarchy        using: reateIfcRelContainedInSpatialStructure.

Disclosed embodiments may include any one of the followingbullet-pointed features alone or in combination with one or more otherbullet-pointed features, whether implemented as a method, by at leastone processor, and/or stored as executable instructions onnon-transitory computer-readable media:

-   -   providing a recommendation based on the determined at least one        action    -   accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms;    -   receiving a first functional requirement for at least one first        room of the plurality of rooms;    -   receiving a second functional requirement for at least one        second room of the plurality of rooms;    -   generatively analyzing the at least one first room in        conjunction with the first functional requirement to identify a        first technical specification and a first equipment placement        location in order to at least partially conform to the first        functional requirement;    -   generatively analyzing the at least one second room in        conjunction with the second functional requirement to identify a        second technical specification and a second equipment placement        location order to at least partially conform to the second        functional requirement;    -   outputting the first technical specification and the first        equipment placement location in an associative manner with the        at least one first room;    -   outputting the second technical specification and the second        equipment placement location in an associative manner with the        at least one second room;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one first room        includes a series of simulations including one or more analyses        of differing equipment placement locations;    -   wherein the first functional requirement is defined by a user;    -   wherein the first functional requirement is prestored in a data        structure;    -   wherein the first functional requirement is applied by a user;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one first room        includes outputting a plurality of equipment placement location        options for selection by a user;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one first room        includes displaying a plurality of technical specifications        options for selection by a user;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one first room        further includes displaying a plurality of technical        specifications and equipment placement location options for        selection by a user;    -   wherein the outputted technical specification includes a model        identifier;    -   receiving different functional requirements for the at least one        first room and the at least second room;    -   receiving a plurality of functional requirements for the at        least one first room;    -   receiving at least two different functional requirement types        for the at least one first room;    -   receiving a third functional requirement for the at least one        first room, the third functional requirement having a different        type than the first functional requirement;    -   generatively analyzing the at least one first room in        conjunction with the third functional requirement, the first        identified technical specification, and the first equipment        placement location to identify a third technical specification        and a third equipment placement location in order to at least        partially conform to the third functional requirement;    -   outputting the third technical specification and the third        equipment placement location in an associative manner with the        at least the first room;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one first room        further includes identifying technical specifications which are        adaptive based on the geographic location of the building        represented in the floor plan;    -   generating a programming parameter based on the first technical        specification;    -   generating a classification tag based on the first technical        specification and the first equipment placement location;    -   receiving a technical specification along with the functional        requirement for generative analyzing the at least one first        room;    -   outputting an accessory associated with a piece of equipment        associated with the first technical specification and the first        equipment placement location;    -   outputting a customized setting associated with a piece of        equipment associated with the first technical specification and        the first equipment placement location;    -   wherein the first technical specification and the second        technical specification are different;    -   wherein identifying the first technical specification includes        retrieving the first technical specification from a prestored        data structure;    -   identifying obstructions in the floor plan using at least one of        semantic analysis, geometric analysis, or machine learning        methods;    -   wherein identifying the first equipment placement location is        based on an identified obstruction;    -   wherein outputting the first technical specification with the        first equipment includes displaying a coverage map spatially        indicating regions covered by at least one of sensors, Bluetooth        beacons, wireless emitters or transmitters, lighting emitting        devices, or sound emitting devices;    -   wherein outputting the first technical specification with the        first equipment includes displaying power consumption data for        the first technical specification;    -   wherein outputting the first technical specification with the        first equipment includes displaying connectivity data for the        first technical specification;    -   wherein the first equipment placement location can be manually        modified by a user;    -   wherein outputting the first technical specification with and        first equipment placement location includes displaying a score        evaluating the first equipment placement location;    -   wherein the floor plan demarcates a plurality of zones;    -   wherein the at least one first room comprises a first zone of        the plurality of zones and the at least one second room        comprises a second zone of the plurality of zones;    -   wherein identifying the at least one equipment specification        includes a weighting of a cost function;    -   receiving a user input varying the weighting of the cost        function;    -   generating a material list of equipment based on the generative        analysis of the at least one first room;    -   receiving user input defining a preferred area for equipment        placement, and identifying the first technical specification and        first equipment placement location is based on the preferred        area;    -   receiving user input defining an undesirable area for equipment        placement;    -   wherein identifying the first technical specification and first        equipment placement location is based on the undesirable area;    -   associating color indicators with functional requirements;    -   wherein functional requirements are colorized on the floor plan        with respective ones of the color indicators;    -   access a data structure containing a list of equipment models        and their associated technical specifications and identifying        the first technical specification is based on the list;    -   exporting a floor plan to at least one of PDF, CAD or BIM        format;    -   receiving a third functional requirement for the at least one        first room;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one first room        further includes using the third functional requirement to        identify the first technical specification and first equipment        placement location;    -   generating installation tasks based on the first technical        specification and the first equipment placement;    -   modifying the first functional requirement;    -   generatively analyzing the at least one first room in        conjunction with the modified first functional requirement to        identify a third equipment placement location in order to at        least partially conform to the modified first functional        requirement;    -   wherein receiving the floor plan includes performing a machine        learning method on the floor plan to demarcate the contours of        the room;    -   wherein receiving the floor plan includes performing at least        one of a semantic analysis or a geometric analysis on the floor        plan to demarcate the contours of the room;    -   populating a CAD and BIM format architectural file with the        first equipment placement location and first technical        specification;    -   enabling input of a functional requirement according to the        contours of the at least one room without manual definition of        the room contours;    -   receiving at least one of equipment technical specifications or        architectural features of the at least first room as inputs to        the generative analysis process for the at least first room;    -   receiving at least one of equipment technical specifications or        architectural features of an at least third room as inputs to        the generative analysis process for the at least first room;    -   receiving the location of a door in an at least third room as an        input to the generative analysis process for the at least first        room;    -   generating a single line diagram based on the first technical        specification and placement location and the second technical        specification and placement location;    -   wherein the generatively analyzing the at least one first room        further includes identifying technical specifications that are        adaptive based on the room function of the at least one room;    -   receiving a third functional requirement for the at least one        first room;    -   generatively analyzing the at least one first room in        conjunction with the third functional requirement using the        first technical specification and first equipment location as an        input to identify a third technical specification and a third        equipment placement location to at least partially conform to        the first functional requirement;    -   wherein the generative analysis process is performed on a        cloud-based system.    -   accessing a floor plan demarcating at least one room;    -   receiving, via a graphical user interface, information marking        an area within the at least one room;    -   wherein the marked area defines an area of interest or        disinterest within the at least one room;    -   wherein the area of interest or disinterest covers an area less        than an area of the at least one room;    -   accessing a functional requirement associated with the area of        interest or disinterest;    -   accessing technical specifications associated with the        functional requirement;    -   generatively analyzing the technical specifications to define a        solution that at least partially conforms to the functional        requirement;    -   outputting the solution;    -   wherein the solution includes a selection of at least one piece        of equipment;    -   wherein the solution includes defining an equipment placement        location of at least one of a sensor or a wireless emitter;    -   wherein the area of disinterest defines an area outside a        desired sensor coverage area;    -   wherein the area of interest defines an area of desired sensor        coverage;    -   wherein the area of interest defines an area for placement of a        controller;    -   wherein the area of interest defines an area for placement of        furniture;    -   wherein the area of interest defines an area for placement of        electrical equipment.    -   wherein the area of interest defines an area for placement of an        access control device;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the technical specifications to        define the solution includes running a series of simulations;    -   receiving, via the graphical user interface, information marking        a plurality of areas of interest in the at least one room;    -   receiving, via the graphical user interface, information marking        overlapping respective areas of interest within the at least one        room;    -   receiving, via the graphical user interface, information marking        a plurality of areas of disinterest within the at least one        room;    -   wherein the plurality of respective areas of interest or        disinterest have respective different functional requirements;    -   wherein the plurality of respective areas of interest or        disinterest have respective different functional requirement        types;    -   receiving information defining an area of interest with a        plurality of functional requirements;    -   applying a functional requirement to an entire area of the at        least one room without user definition of the room contours in        addition to the graphically marked areas of interest;    -   wherein accessing the floor plan demarcating the at least one        room includes performing at least one of a machine learning        method or semantic analysis on the floor plan to demarcate        contours of the at least one room;    -   wherein the solution is based on a weighted cost function;    -   wherein a weight of the weighted cost function is based on user        input;    -   wherein outputting the solution includes displaying a coverage        map spatially indicating regions covered by at least one of        sensors, wireless emitters, WiFi Access Points, lighting        emitting devices or sound emitting devices;    -   wherein outputting the solution includes displaying a furniture        layout;    -   wherein outputting the solution includes an equipment placement        location of electrical equipment;    -   wherein the generative analysis receives as an input an        architectural feature of the at least one room;    -   wherein the generative analysis receives as an input an        architectural feature outside the at least one room;    -   wherein the generative analysis receives as an input a furniture        placement within the at least one room;    -   wherein the generative analysis includes a topological analysis        to determine a preferred door face for equipment placement;    -   wherein the area of interest or disinterest includes a door;    -   wherein marking the area of interest or disinterest includes        selecting an area automatically identified using at least of one        of semantic analysis, a machine learning method or geometric        analysis;    -   wherein the area of interest or disinterest includes a desk;    -   wherein floor plan analysis is performed on the access floor        plan to identify the room contours of the at least one        demarcated room;    -   wherein the system is implemented on a cloud based system.    -   accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms;    -   performing at least one of a machine learning method, semantic        analysis, or geometric analysis on the floor plan to identify at        least one opening associated with at least one room from the        plurality of rooms;    -   accessing a functional requirement associated with the at least        one opening;    -   accessing at least one rule that associates the functional        requirement with the at least one opening;    -   using the at least one rule and the functional requirement to        define at least one of an area of interest or disinterest less        than an area of the at least one room;    -   accessing a technical specification associated with the        functional requirement;    -   generatively analyzing the at least one room in conjunction with        the technical specification and the defined area of interest or        disinterest to define a solution that at least partially        conforms to the functional requirement;    -   outputting the solution;    -   wherein the technical specification includes an equipment        specification;    -   wherein the technical specification includes a model identifier;    -   wherein the solution includes the placement of a controller        associated with the technical specification of an outputted        equipment;    -   wherein the solution includes the technical specification of a        controller associated with the technical specification of an        outputted equipment;    -   wherein the solution includes the technical specification of an        auxiliary equipment associated with the technical specification        of an outputted equipment;    -   wherein the solution includes the technical specification of an        accessory associated with the technical specification of an        outputted equipment;    -   wherein the solution includes a wiring diagram associated with        the technical specification of an outputted equipment;    -   wherein the solution includes a customized equipment setting;    -   wherein the solution includes an equipment classification;    -   wherein the solution includes a programming parameter;    -   wherein the solution includes an equipment height;    -   generating a bill of material based on the outputted solution;    -   wherein generatively analyzing comprises running a plurality of        simulations;    -   ignoring areas of the at least one room other than the defined        area of interest or disinterest;    -   wherein defining at least one of an area of interest or        disinterest comprises defining a first area of interest and a        first area of disinterest;    -   wherein defining at least one of an area of interest or        disinterest comprises defining at least two areas of interest        associated with the at least one room;    -   wherein the defined area of interest includes at least one of a        door, corridor, window, egress, or a workplane;    -   wherein the defined area of disinterest includes at least one of        a surrounding area of a restroom door, fire escape door, egress        door, server room door, stairwell door, office door and bedroom        door;    -   wherein the functional requirement includes image sensor        coverage;    -   wherein the at least one rule specifies that egress points are        to be included with the image sensor coverage;    -   identifying an egress point;    -   including the egress point within the defined area of interest;    -   wherein the functional requirement is associated with door        access control;    -   wherein the at least one rule specifies that egress points are        to be equipped with door access control;    -   wherein the functional requirement includes light control;    -   wherein the at least one rule specifies that areas adjacent to        office doors are to be equipped with light controllers;    -   identifying an office door;    -   including the area adjacent to an office door within the defined        area of interest;    -   wherein the functional requirement includes HVAC control;    -   wherein the at least one rule specifies that areas adjacent to        office doors are to be equipped with HVAC controllers;    -   wherein the functional requirement includes sensor coverage for        egress points;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one room includes        running a simulation in the defined area of interest that        includes an egress point associated with the at least one room;    -   wherein the functional requirement includes sensor coverage for        doors;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one room includes        topological analysis to determine a preferred door face for a        sensor-covered door;    -   wherein the functional requirement is associated with light        controllers adjacent to doors;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one room includes        topological analysis to determine a preferred door face for a        lighting controller    -   wherein the functional requirement is associated with access        control devices for doors;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one room includes        running a simulation on the defined area of interest that        includes doors associated with the at least one room;    -   wherein the simulation includes a topological analysis to        determine a preferred door face for an access control device;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one room includes        calculating a distance of the at least one opening to an        architectural feature;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one room includes        calculating a distance of the at least one opening to a piece of        equipment;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one room includes        analysis of available space for the outputted solution;    -   wherein performing at least one of a machine learning method,        semantic analysis, or geometric analysis on the floor plan to        identify at least one opening includes using artificial        intelligence to identify the at least one opening;    -   wherein the solution includes a graphical indication of        equipment placement on the floor plan;    -   wherein the solution includes a graphical indication on the        floor plan of equipment directionality;    -   wherein accessing a functional requirement includes accessing at        least two functional requirements associated with the at least        one opening;    -   wherein accessing a functional requirement includes accessing at        least two functional requirements of different types associated        with the at least one opening;    -   wherein generatively analyzing includes using a machine learning        method;    -   wherein identifying the at least one opening includes a        combination of machine learning methods and semantic analysis;    -   wherein identifying the at least one opening includes using        geometric analysis.    -   accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of spaces;    -   performing semantic enrichment on the plurality of spaces in        order to determine a semantic designation for at least one space        of the plurality of spaces;    -   enriching the floor plan by associating on the floor plan the        semantic designation with the at least one space;    -   identifying, in a data structure, a rule that includes a        functional requirement based on the semantic designation;    -   associating the identified rule with the at least one space;    -   generatively analyzing the plurality of spaces to determine an        equipment placement location for individual spaces of the        plurality of spaces that at least partially conforms to the        functional requirement;    -   wherein a plurality of different functional requirements is        associated with the at least one space;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment process considers existing        semantic designations;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment involves an artificial        intelligence method;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment considers architectural features        of the at least one space;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment considers a furniture piece of        the at least one space;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment includes topological analysis of        the at least one space;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment includes at least one of        updating or augmenting a prior semantic designation;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment includes adding the semantic        designation where one was absent;    -   applying the rule in a manner that associates the functional        requirement with the at least one space in a graphical        representation of the floor plan;    -   wherein the at least one space is one of an office, a corridor,        or a sleeping area;    -   adding the semantic designation to a zone associated with the at        least one space;    -   wherein the zone is one of an HVAC zone, a fire zone, or an        occupancy zone;    -   wherein one or more of the plurality of spaces lack a semantic        designation;    -   wherein the semantic designation is applied in common to the one        or more of the plurality of spaces;    -   wherein the rule includes at least one of an energy consumption        rule, an occupancy rule, or an equipment placement rule;    -   wherein the rule is prestored in a database;    -   wherein the rule is defined by a user;    -   determining semantic designations of individual spaces of the        plurality of spaces based on an international standard;    -   associating the functional requirement with a group of spaces of        the plurality of spaces;    -   wherein the group of spaces is associated with the semantic        designation;    -   updating an index of the plurality of spaces by associating the        at least one space with the functional requirement and the        semantic designation;    -   indicating a confidence rating for the semantic designation;    -   enabling a user to override the semantic designation;    -   wherein an existing semantic designation is overridden if a        defined confidence rating threshold is met;    -   wherein the semantic designation identifies a room function;    -   providing a prompt querying acceptance or denial of an        application of the function requirement to individual spaces of        the plurality of spaces by a user;    -   semantically enriching the floor plan by associating a semantic        designation with an architectural feature;    -   wherein the architectural feature is a piece of furniture;    -   wherein the accessed floor plan is at least one of a PDF or CAD        file;    -   wherein the accessed floor plan is a BIM file;    -   wherein floor plan analysis is performed on the floor plan to        identify contours of the plurality of demarcated spaces;    -   wherein the rule further includes a technical specification;    -   wherein the rule further includes the addition of at least one        of architectural features or equipment;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment considers existing semantic        designations in a plurality of languages;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment is configured to determine        semantic designations in a plurality of languages;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment is performed on a cloud-based        system;    -   wherein the generative analysis is performed on a cloud-based        system;    -   semantically enriching the floor plan by associating a semantic        designation with equipment;    -   accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms;    -   accessing functional requirements associated with the plurality        of rooms;    -   accessing technical specifications associated with the        functional requirements;    -   performing floor plan analysis on the floor plan to ascertain        room features associated with the functional requirements and        technical specifications;    -   generatively analyzing the room features with reference to the        functional requirements and the technical specifications to        determine at least one customized equipment configuration for at        least some of the plurality of rooms;    -   generating a manufacturer dataset including a room identifier,        an equipment identifier, and the at least one customized        equipment configuration, in a manner enabling a manufacturer to        customize equipment for each of the plurality of rooms and to        package the customized equipment in a manner displaying the room        identifier;    -   wherein the manufacturer dataset further includes equipment        placement location data, to thereby enable the manufacturer to        package the equipment placement location data with the        customized equipment;    -   wherein the manufacturer dataset further includes product        orientation information for the manufacturer to package with the        customized equipment;    -   wherein the manufacturer dataset further includes a room        function identifier;    -   wherein the manufacturer dataset further includes a project        identifier;    -   wherein the manufacturer dataset further includes a level        identifier;    -   wherein the manufacturer data set further includes at least one        programming parameter to thereby enable the manufacturer to        configure the customized equipment;    -   wherein the generative analysis includes generating a wiring        diagram;    -   wherein the manufacturer dataset further includes the wiring        diagram;    -   wherein generatively analyzing includes simulating a same piece        of equipment in differing locations in a room to thereby        determine a preferred equipment placement location for the piece        of equipment;    -   wherein the manufacturer dataset includes a graphical        representation of the room for which equipment is intended with        an indication in the graphical representation of an equipment        placement location, to thereby enable the manufacturer to        package the graphical representation of the room with the        customized equipment;    -   wherein the manufacturer dataset includes a label layout        containing the room identifier and a floor plan of a room        associated with the room identifier;    -   wherein the label layout contains a graphical representation of        an equipment placement location associated with the customized        equipment;    -   wherein at least two different functional requirements are        associated with the plurality of rooms, the different functional        requirements being of different functional requirement types;    -   wherein the customized configuration includes an IP address;    -   wherein the operations further include outputting the        manufacturer dataset;    -   wherein accessing the floor plan comprises accessing a CAD file;    -   wherein the customized configuration includes a communications        protocol;    -   wherein the customized configuration includes a firmware type;    -   wherein the at least one customized equipment configuration        includes both a physical equipment device setting and        programming parameter;    -   wherein the customized equipment configuration specifies a        primary equipment and at least one auxiliary equipment;    -   wherein the customized equipment configuration includes the        aggregation of at least two different pieces of equipment;    -   wherein accessing the floor plan comprises accessing a BIM file;    -   wherein the technical specifications are adaptive based on a        geographic location of a building represented in the floor plan;    -   wherein the accessed technical specifications are adaptive based        on a room function of at least one room;    -   wherein the customized equipment configuration is determined        based on a room function of at least one room;    -   wherein the generative analysis includes receiving, as an input,        a technical specification for at least one piece of equipment        placed on the floor plan prior to the generative analyzing        process;    -   wherein the room features include a furniture type;    -   wherein generating the manufacturer dataset includes generating        the room identifier based on a semantic enrichment process.    -   wherein the system is implemented on a cloud-based system.    -   receive a floor plan demarcating contours of a room    -   receive a selection of at least one functional requirement or        equipment specification associated with the room    -   generatively analyze the room to obtain a plurality of solutions        that at least partially conform to the at least one functional        requirement or equipment specification    -   receive a selection of a solution from the plurality of        solutions, wherein the selected solution includes an equipment        placement location    -   receive instructions to vary the equipment placement location    -   generatively analyze the room to update the selected solution        based on the instructions to vary the equipment placement        location    -   display the updated solution    -   the at least one processor is further configured to rate the        plurality of solutions and to present an associated rating to a        user    -   display includes a performance visualization    -   the performance visualization is automatically updated based on        the instructions to vary the equipment location    -   the plurality of solutions includes an equipment model    -   receiving instructions to vary the equipment placement location        includes receiving instructions to vary the equipment model    -   the plurality of solutions includes an equipment classification    -   receiving instructions to vary the equipment placement location        includes receiving instructions to vary the equipment        classification    -   the plurality of solutions includes a customized setting    -   receiving instructions to vary the equipment placement location        includes receiving instructions to vary the customized setting    -   the plurality of solutions includes wiring diagrams    -   receiving instructions to vary the equipment placement location        includes receiving instructions to vary the wiring diagrams    -   the at least one processor is further configured to receive        instructions to vary two or more equipment parameters    -   the at least one functional requirement includes a desired        equipment placement location    -   the user is enabled to vary the equipment placement location        prior to performance of the generative analysis to obtain the        plurality of solutions    -   receiving instructions to vary the equipment placement location        includes receiving instructions to remove equipment.    -   receiving instructions to vary the equipment placement location        includes receiving instructions to add equipment    -   receiving instructions to vary the equipment placement location        includes receiving instructions to add at least one accessory    -   the at least one processor is further configured to enable the        user to copy one piece of equipment manually modified from the        updated solution    -   receiving instructions to vary the equipment placement location        includes receiving instructions to lock a manually modified        parameter associated with at least one piece of equipment    -   the at least one processor is further configured to enable user        to apply a manually modified parameter of first piece of        equipment to a second piece of equipment    -   generatively analyzing the room includes use of machine learning    -   generatively analyzing the room includes generating a series of        simulations    -   receiving the floor plan demarcating contours of a room includes        performing image processing on the floor plan to demarcate the        contours of the room    -   the contours of a room are identified using at least one of        machine learning methods, a geometric analysis, or a semantic        analysis    -   the equipment specification is associated with a sensor    -   the generative analysis is performed on a cloud-based system    -   the solution is selected by a user    -   varying the location includes at modifying least one of an        equipment height or an equipment orientation    -   accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms    -   assigning functional requirements to each of the plurality of        rooms    -   accessing at least one data structure containing technical        specifications for primary equipment and auxiliary equipment,        and further containing compatibility rules associating primary        and auxiliary equipment    -   generatively analyzing the floor plan using the functional        requirements and the technical specifications for the primary        equipment to select and position in the floor plan primary        equipment to at least partially conform to the functional        requirements for each of the plurality of rooms    -   based on the selection and positioning of the primary equipment        in the floor plan, using the compatibility rules and the        technical specifications for the primary equipment and the        auxiliary equipment to determine whether auxiliary equipment is        required for each of the plurality of rooms and to select the        auxiliary equipment to at least partially conform to the        functional requirements of each of the plurality of rooms        requiring auxiliary equipment    -   positioning the selected auxiliary equipment in the floor plan    -   wherein the positions of the selected auxiliary equipment are        determined according to a user definable rule    -   receiving technical specification assignments to the plurality        of rooms    -   receiving a plurality of functional requirement assignments to        the plurality of rooms    -   receiving technical specifications used for the selection of        auxiliary equipment    -   wherein the technical specifications used for the selection of        auxiliary equipment are assigned by a user    -   permit the user to specify primary equipment locations for the        generative analysis    -   identifying auxiliary equipment unspecified by the user    -   wherein assigning functional requirements to each of the        plurality of rooms includes presenting an interface enabling a        user to select and assign functional requirements on a        room-by-room basis    -   permitting a user to specify primary equipment for the        generative analysis    -   identifying auxiliary equipment unspecified by the user    -   receiving a request to alter the technical specification of the        selected primary equipment for at least one of the plurality of        rooms    -   updating the technical specification of the selected primary        equipment for the at least one of the plurality of rooms based        on the request    -   updating, based on the update of the selected primary equipment        technical specification, the technical specification of the        selected auxiliary equipment, the selected auxiliary equipment        being associated with the selected primary equipment according        to a compatibility rule    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on network bandwidth    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on voltage drop    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on cable tray dimensions    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on conduit dimensions    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on power consumption    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on ethernet switch port capacity    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on uninterruptable power supply runtime, battery        backup runtime, or generator runtime    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on air flow    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes running        calculations on water pressure    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment considers whether the        selected primary equipment is located on at least one of walls        or ceilings    -   wherein selecting auxiliary equipment includes calculating a        number of low-current inputs and outputs of the selected primary        equipment    -   wherein the selected auxiliary equipment includes one or more of        wiring, conduits, ducts, pipes, and cable trays    -   generating the technical specifications of the auxiliary        equipment based on the selected primary equipment and the        compatibility rules    -   displaying a comparison of alternative auxiliary equipment        technical specifications prior to selecting the auxiliary        equipment    -   generating a bill of material based on the selected primary and        auxiliary equipment    -   wherein the bill of material is exportable    -   generating at least one programming parameter for the selected        primary equipment    -   generating at least one classification tag for the selected        primary and auxiliary equipment    -   generating at least one customized setting for the selected        auxiliary equipment    -   generating a wiring diagram indicating the connections between        at least one piece of selected primary equipment and at least        one piece of selected auxiliary equipment    -   selecting at least two pieces of auxiliary equipment having at        least two types, respectively    -   wherein at least one type of the at least two types is wiring    -   wherein at least one type of the at least two types is a cable        tray    -   enabling specification of a spare capacity for at least one of        ports, cable fill or power capacity    -   wherein the spare capacity is defined by a user    -   generating an equipment schedule indicating the association of        primary and auxiliary equipment based on the selected primary        and auxiliary equipment    -   wherein generatively analyzing further includes providing a        preference for selecting auxiliary equipment from a manufacturer        product family for each of a type of auxiliary equipment    -   considering the selected primary equipment in a subset of the        plurality of rooms and to select the auxiliary equipment based        on an aggregation of primary equipment in the subset of the        plurality of rooms    -   considering an aggregate quantity of selected primary equipment        in the subset of the plurality of rooms based on the aggregation        of primary equipment in the subset of the plurality of rooms and        select the auxiliary equipment based on the aggregate quantity        of primary equipment    -   wherein the compatibility rules associating primary and        auxiliary equipment are pre-stored in the at least one data        structure    -   wherein the compatibility rules associating primary and        auxiliary equipment are user definable    -   wherein generatively analyzing further includes considering one        or more locations of architectural features within each of the        plurality of rooms    -   identifying contours demarcating rooms from the accessed floor        plan by performing at least one of image processing or semantic        analysis    -   using the location of selected primary equipment to determine        whether auxiliary equipment is required for each of the        plurality of rooms and to select the auxiliary equipment to at        least partially conform to the functional requirement.    -   accessing a floor plan defining a plurality of rooms;    -   receiving input associating at least one of a plurality of        functional requirements with at least one room of the plurality        of rooms;    -   accessing, in a data structure, technical specifications        associated with electrical equipment;    -   selecting, from the data structure, a plurality of the technical        specifications associated with electrical equipment;    -   generatively analyzing the at least one room in conjunction with        the functional requirement and the selected technical        specifications in order to select a piece of equipment for the        at least one room;    -   selecting an equipment placement location of the selected piece        of equipment within the at least one room;    -   accessing structural data associated with the at least one room,        the structural data including wall locations;    -   generating a wiring diagram for the at least one room using the        selected technical specifications and the structural data;    -   wherein the wiring diagram includes a graphical representation        on the floor plan of the equipment placement location of the        selected piece of equipment and wiring runs to the selected        piece of equipment;    -   wherein the selected piece of equipment includes a model        identifier;    -   wherein the selected piece of equipment and wiring runs are        associated with at least one of a fire safety system, a security        system, an electrical system, or sensors;    -   wherein the selected piece of equipment is at least one of a        light fixture, a power socket, or a light switch;    -   wherein generatively analyzing the at least one room is based on        the plurality of functional requirements;    -   wherein the plurality of functional requirements is of different        types;    -   generating wiring diagrams for each of the plurality of rooms;    -   wherein at least some of the wiring routes for the plurality of        rooms aggregate along a single path;    -   generating wiring diagrams for a plurality of pieces of        equipment of different equipment types;    -   wherein the wiring diagram indicates wiring homeruns using a        homerun symbol;    -   wherein wiring diagram indicates wiring homeruns by using direct        point-to-point wiring paths;    -   defining a wiring termination point for a selected piece of        equipment located in the at least one room;    -   wherein the wiring termination point is in another room of the        plurality of rooms;    -   wherein the defined wiring termination point is user defined;    -   wherein the generated wiring traverses from the selected        equipment located in the at least one room to the termination        point in the another room;    -   wherein there are a plurality of rooms with selected equipment;    -   wherein the generated wiring runs in the wiring diagram        terminate at a single termination point;    -   wherein there are plurality of wiring terminations points on a        single level;    -   wherein the generated wiring runs indicates a specific        input/output port at the wiring termination point;    -   exporting data associated with the wiring diagrams including the        termination points;    -   wherein the termination point is associated with an equipment        rack or equipment enclosure;    -   wherein generating the wiring diagram for the at least one room        is based on a user definition of a preferred wiring run;    -   identifying a corridor;    -   identifying a preferred wiring run through the corridor;    -   wherein generating the wiring diagram is based on the preferred        wiring run;    -   wherein the corridor is identified using a semantic enrichment        process;    -   calculating a total wire length of the wiring runs;    -   wherein the wiring diagram includes a cable tray;    -   calculating dimensions of the cable tray;    -   wherein the wiring diagram includes a conduit;    -   calculating dimensions of the conduit;    -   wherein the wiring diagram includes at least one of a conduit or        a cable tray;    -   generating a bill of material for at least one of a selected        piece of equipment, wiring run, a conduit, or a cable tray;    -   permitting a user to select functional requirements for the        plurality of rooms;    -   calculating wire runs for equipment selected for the plurality        of rooms;    -   enabling a user to change the equipment placement location of        the piece of equipment;    -   updating the wire runs associated with the changed equipment        placement location;    -   wherein the update occurs automatically without user        intervention;    -   wherein the graphical representation includes a single line        diagram;    -   wherein the structural data includes at least one of a door        location, a window location, a wall location, a shaft location,        or a column location;    -   wherein generating the wiring diagram is based on a rule to        avoid exterior areas of a building for wiring runs;    -   outputting a technical specification of the wiring diagram based        on technical specifications of the selected piece of equipment;    -   wherein the selected technical specifications include power        consumption data;    -   wherein the wiring diagram conforms to the power consumption        data;    -   automatically selecting auxiliary equipment associated with the        selected piece of equipment and the generated wiring diagram;    -   wherein generative analysis includes a plurality of simulations        to determine preferred grouping of equipment and wiring routes;    -   generating a report indicating the selected piece of equipment,        the wiring runs, and a wiring length on a per piece of equipment        basis;    -   receiving user input modifying a termination of the selected        piece of equipment;    -   generating a new wiring diagram based on the modified        termination;    -   enabling user editing of wiring runs;    -   enabling user editing of wiring termination points;    -   enabling bulk updating of wiring termination points;    -   wherein the wiring diagram is a first wiring diagram;    -   generating at least a second wiring diagram for the at least one        room;    -   enabling a user to select a preferred diagram from among the        first and at least the second wiring diagram;    -   enabling the user to specify a non-preferred path for wiring        runs;    -   associating one or more wiring typologies with the equipment        technical specifications;    -   generating wiring diagrams with a plurality wiring typologies;    -   generating wiring diagrams for equipment selected and located by        a user;    -   generating wiring diagrams for equipment already placed on the        accessed floor plan;    -   wherein the plurality of rooms is defined using floor plan        analysis;    -   wherein the accessed floor plan is a BIM file;    -   wherein the generated wiring diagram traverses x, y and z        coordinates;    -   wherein the input associating at least one of a plurality of        functional requirements with at least one room of the plurality        of rooms is user defined;    -   wherein the user input defining the association of functional        requirements can be bulk applied to a plurality of rooms;    -   wherein at least a portion of the system is cloud-based;    -   accessing a 2D floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms;    -   identifying, using use a machine learning method, wall        boundaries of the plurality of rooms;    -   storing the identified wall boundaries in a retention data        structure;    -   generating a building information model, wherein the building        information model includes the identified wall boundaries;    -   displaying, at an interface, a comparison of at least a portion        of the 2D floor plan and the building information model;    -   receiving, from the interface, input based on the comparison;    -   updating the retention data structure based on the input;    -   accessing a rule defining a respective height for the identified        wall boundaries and updating the retention data structure based        associating the identified wall boundaries with their respective        wall heights and visualize the building information model in a        3D format;    -   using geometric analysis to identify the wall boundaries;    -   wherein the input received from the interface includes at least        one of an instruction to delete a wall or an instruction to add        a wall;    -   wherein the input received from the interface includes an        instruction to modify of at least one of wall length or        thickness;    -   wherein the input received from the interface includes an        instruction to execute a floor plan remediation technique;    -   outputting the building information model;    -   performing at least one of saving or exporting the building        information model in an industry foundation classes format;    -   wherein the 2D floor plan is a CAD file;    -   wherein the 2D floor plan is a PDF file;    -   wherein the 2D floor plan is an image file;    -   identifying rooms in the 2D floor plan    -   wherein identifying wall boundaries of the plurality of rooms is        based on identified rooms;    -   identifying rooms in at least one of the 2D floor plan or the        building information model based on the identified wall        boundaries;    -   identifying at least one of a door or a window in the 2D floor        plan    -   wherein the identifying wall boundaries of the plurality of        rooms is based on at least one of the door or the window;    -   identifying architectural features of the 2D floor plan and        storing the identified architectural features in the retention        data structure;    -   wherein the architectural features include furniture;    -   associating an identified architectural feature with an object        of the building information model;    -   wherein associating the identified architectural feature with        the object of the building information model is based on a rule;    -   identifying equipment in the 2D floor plan located within the        identified wall boundaries and store the identified equipment in        the retention data structure;    -   associating the identified equipment with at least one object of        the building information model;    -   wherein the associating the identified equipment with the at        least one object of the building information model based on a        rule;    -   ignoring at least one of a gridline, a dimension, or an        irrelevant layer in the 2D floor plan;    -   calculating an area of the building information model;    -   wherein the comparison of at least a portion of the 2D floor        plan and the building information model includes a graphical        indication of the identified wall boundaries;    -   enabling selection of an area of the 2D floor plan;    -   wherein generating the building information model is based on        the selection;    -   accessing a rule defining a scale of the 2D floor plan;    -   displaying a graphical representation of the building        information model at the interface;    -   enabling pan, tilt, and zooming of the graphical representation        of the building information model;    -   wherein the building information model is in an industry        foundation classes format;    -   enabling the aggregation of the 2D floor plan with one or more        additional 2D floor plans into the building information model;    -   enabling a user to select a level to visualize from among a        plurality of levels contained within the building information        model;    -   receiving functional requirements associated with the plurality        rooms;    -   generatively analyzing the plurality of rooms in conjunction        with the functionals requirement to identify at least one        technical specification and at least one equipment placement        location in order to at least partially conform to the        functional requirement;    -   performing a semantic enrichment process;    -   adding a semantic designation to at least one room of the        plurality of rooms;    -   identifying wall material;    -   wherein the system is implemented on a cloud based system        accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms;    -   wherein the floor plan includes a plurality of equipment        symbols;    -   enabling a user to select an equipment symbol for analysis;    -   parsing the floor plan to identify instances of the selected        equipment symbol;    -   parsing the floor plan to identify structural elements including        walls;    -   accessing functional requirements for a set of rooms in the        plurality of rooms containing the instances of the selected        equipment symbols;    -   accessing equipment technical specifications to identify        equipment technical specifications associated with the        functional requirements;    -   performing a generative analysis on the identified equipment        technical specifications within identified walls of each room in        the set of rooms to select an equipment model that at least        partially conforms to the functional requirements;    -   updating the floor plan by associating the selected equipment        model with the instances of the selected equipment symbols;    -   outputting a bill of material based on the updated floor plan;    -   updating the floor plan by modifying at least one of quantity or        location of an instance of selected equipment symbols in order        to improve compliance with the functional requirements;    -   enabling a user to define a maximum allowed modification        variance in at least one of a quantity or a location of the        selected equipment symbols    -   prompting the user to accept at least one location modification        of one of the instances of the selected equipment symbols;    -   identifying at least two equipment models for a given equipment        symbol which at least partially conforms for a users selection;    -   wherein the generative analysis includes selecting different        equipment models for the same equipment symbol in the plurality        of rooms;    -   wherein a plurality of equipment symbols is selected for        analysis;    -   enabling specification of an equipment model for one of the        selected instances of the equipment symbols;    -   wherein the generative analysis process includes at least one of        optimizing a parameter of a specified equipment model or        selecting auxiliary equipment;    -   wherein accessing the equipment technical specifications is        based on user input;    -   wherein accessing the functional requirements is based on user        input;    -   wherein parsing the floor plan includes at least one of a        geometric analysis, a semantic analysis, or a machine learning        method;    -   wherein parsing the floor plan to identify instances of the        selected equipment symbol includes using artificial intelligence        methods;    -   enabling a user to access a list of equipment symbols and select        a plurality of equipment symbols from the list for analysis;    -   wherein the selected equipment symbol denotes a lighting        fixture;    -   wherein the selected equipment symbol denotes a sensor;    -   selecting compatible auxiliary equipment for the selected        equipment model;    -   wherein the generative analysis process considers a semantic        designation of a room in the set of rooms;    -   wherein the generative analysis process considers an        architectural feature of a room in the set of rooms;    -   wherein the architectural feature includes area;    -   wherein the architectural feature includes a furniture type;    -   generating a wiring diagram;    -   performing a floor plan analysis on the floor plan to identify        room contours of the plurality of demarcated rooms;    -   wherein the equipment symbol is a building information modeling        object;    -   wherein associating the selected equipment model with the        selected equipment symbol includes associating a building        information modeling object reflecting the selected equipment        model with the equipment symbol;    -   wherein associating the building information modeling object        overrides another building information modeling object        previously associated with the symbol;    -   wherein the selected equipment symbol analysis is associated        with a building information modeling object containing a first        model;    -   wherein the generative analysis process includes determining a        second model would achieve higher conformance with the        functional requirement;    -   associating the second model with the equipment based on the        determination;    -   displaying a prompt querying acceptance of the selected second        model's association with the selected equipment symbol.    -   accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms;    -   accessing architectural feature data associated with the        plurality of rooms;    -   using the architectural feature data, performing a semantic        enrichment process on the plurality of rooms in order to        determine semantic designations for the plurality of rooms;    -   associating, on the floor plan, the semantic designations with        the plurality of rooms;    -   associating, in an index, the semantic designations with the        plurality of rooms;    -   updating the floor plan by using the index to enable an action        to be applied to a group of rooms sharing a common semantic        designation;    -   identifying contours of the plurality of rooms;    -   wherein the semantic designations are associated with respective        room functions;    -   wherein the semantic designations are based on international        standards;    -   wherein the semantic designations are based on user definable        standards;    -   wherein updating the floor plan further includes coloring rooms        sharing a common semantic designation according to a legend;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment process is performed before the        index is generated;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment process is performed after the        index is generated;    -   associating room names with the plurality of rooms in the index;    -   wherein the index includes the determined semantic designation        and existing room names of at least one of the plurality of        rooms;    -   associating rooms with their associated architectural features        in the index;    -   using the index to enable the action to be applied to a group of        rooms sharing common architectural features;    -   wherein at least one of the index is configured to be searched        or the index is configured to be filtered;    -   wherein the index is configured to be filtered by a building        level;    -   wherein the architectural feature data includes at least one of        geometric data or furniture;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment process includes considering an        existing room name;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment process includes determining a        semantic designation where one was absent;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment process includes overriding an        existing semantic designation;    -   wherein the override is based on a confidence threshold;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment process includes considering        semantic designations of architectural features;    -   wherein the semantic enrichment process includes analysis of at        least one of geometric features, architectural features, or        existing room names;    -   determining semantic designations for at least one of furniture,        equipment, or architectural features;    -   associating the designations with their respective rooms in the        index;    -   identifying at least one of rooms, walls, or doors using a        machine learning method;    -   accessing a list of equipment in the plurality of rooms;    -   associating, in the index, equipment from the list of the        equipment with respective ones of the plurality of rooms in the        index;    -   using the index to enable the action to be performed on rooms        sharing common equipment;    -   wherein the action includes changing an equipment model        identifier;    -   wherein the index contains a confidence rating for the semantic        designations;    -   associating, on the floor plan, a confidence level for the        semantic designations;    -   enabling a user to select a plurality of rooms from the index        and associate functional requirements with the selected rooms;    -   wherein enabling the user to select a room from the index        includes enabling the user to click in the floor plan on a room        that was previously indexed;    -   wherein enabling the user to select a room from the index        includes enabling the user to select a room from a list;    -   wherein the action includes application of a functional        requirement containing at least one of a candela intensity, lux        level, a decibel sound level, a Speech Transmission Index level,        wireless signal strength, a pixel density level, door access        control, a BTU level, or an energy consumption level;    -   accessing functional requirements associated with the plurality        of rooms;    -   performing a generative analysis process in conjunction with        technical specifications of equipment associated with the        functional requirements;    -   outputting a solution that least partially conforms to the        functional requirement;    -   wherein the action includes an application of a rule;    -   wherein the rule is an energy consumption rule;    -   wherein the rule is associated with a functional requirement of        the group of rooms;    -   wherein the action includes adding equipment to the group of        rooms;    -   wherein the action includes associating a technical        specification with the group of rooms;    -   outputting the index    -   the system is implemented on a cloud based system

Systems and methods disclosed herein involve unconventional improvementsover conventional approaches. Descriptions of the disclosed embodimentsare not exhaustive and are not limited to the precise forms orembodiments disclosed. Modifications and adaptations of the embodimentswill be apparent from consideration of the specification and practice ofthe disclosed embodiments. Additionally, the disclosed embodiments arenot limited to the examples discussed herein.

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes ofillustration. It is not exhaustive and is not limited to the preciseforms or embodiments disclosed. Modifications and adaptations of theembodiments will be apparent from consideration of the specification andpractice of the disclosed embodiments. For example, the describedimplementations include hardware and software, but systems and methodsconsistent with the present disclosure may be implemented as hardwarealone.

Computer programs based on the written description and methods of thisspecification are within the skill of a software developer. The variousfunctions, scripts, programs, or modules may be created using a varietyof programming techniques. For example, programs, scripts, functions,program sections or program modules may be designed in or by means oflanguages, including JAVASCRIPT, C, C++, JAVA, PHP, PYTHON, RUBY, PERL,BASH, or other programming or scripting languages. One or more of suchsoftware sections or modules may be integrated into a computer system,non-transitory computer readable media, or existing communicationssoftware. The programs, modules, or code may also be implemented orreplicated as firmware or circuit logic.

Moreover, while illustrative embodiments have been described herein, thescope may include any and all embodiments having equivalent elements,modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across variousembodiments), adaptations or alterations based on the presentdisclosure. The elements in the claims are to be interpreted broadlybased on the language employed in the claims and not limited to examplesdescribed in the present specification or during the prosecution of theapplication, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive.Further, the steps of the disclosed methods may be modified in anymanner, including by reordering steps or inserting or deleting steps. Itis intended, therefore, that the specification and examples beconsidered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit beingindicated by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A structural design system for customizingequipment for use in buildings based on floor plans, the systemcomprising: at least one processor configured to: access a floor plandemarcating a plurality of rooms; access functional requirementsassociated with the plurality of rooms, the functional requirementsincluding one or more performance criteria or rules; access technicalspecifications associated with the functional requirements, thetechnical specifications including information specifying a piece ofequipment; perform floor plan analysis on the floor plan to ascertainroom features associated with the functional requirements and technicalspecifications; generatively analyze the room features with reference tothe functional requirements and the technical specifications todetermine at least one customized equipment configuration for one ormore of the plurality of rooms, the at least one customized equipmentconfiguration including a modification to a parameter of the piece ofequipment in a manner that differs from a default factory setting; andgenerate a manufacturer dataset including a room identifier, anequipment identifier, and the at least one customized equipmentconfiguration, the manufacturer dataset associating the at least onecustomized equipment configuration with the room identifier and theequipment identifier.
 2. The structural design system of claim 1,wherein the manufacturer dataset further includes equipment placementlocation data, the manufacturer dataset associating the at least onecustomized equipment configuration with the equipment placement locationdata.
 3. The structural design system of claim 1, wherein themanufacturer dataset further includes product orientation informationfor the manufacturer to package with the customized equipment.
 4. Thestructural design system of claim 1, wherein the manufacturer datasetfurther includes a room function identifier.
 5. The structural designsystem of claim 1, wherein the manufacturer dataset further includes aproject identifier.
 6. The structural design system of claim 1, whereinthe manufacturer dataset further includes a level identifier.
 7. Thestructural design system of claim 1, wherein the manufacturer datasetfurther includes at least one programming parameter, the manufacturerdataset associating the at least one customized equipment configurationwith the programming parameter.
 8. The structural design system of claim1, wherein the generative analysis includes generating a wiring diagram,and the manufacturer dataset further includes the wiring diagram.
 9. Thestructural design system of claim 1, wherein generatively analyzingincludes simulating a same piece of equipment in differing locations ina room to thereby determine a preferred equipment placement location forthe piece of equipment.
 10. The structural design system of claim 1,wherein the manufacturer dataset includes a graphical representation ofthe room for which equipment is intended with an indication in thegraphical representation of an equipment placement location, themanufacturer dataset associating the at least one customized equipmentconfiguration with the graphical representation of the room for whichequipment is intended with an indication in the graphical representationof an equipment placement location.
 11. The structural design system ofclaim 1, wherein the manufacturer dataset includes a label layoutcontaining the room identifier and a floor plan of a room associatedwith the room identifier, wherein the label layout contains a graphicalrepresentation of an equipment placement location associated with thecustomized equipment.
 12. The structural design system of claim 1,wherein at least two different functional requirements are associatedwith the plurality of rooms, the different functional requirements beingof different functional requirement types.
 13. The structural designsystem of claim 1, wherein the customized configuration includes an IPaddress.
 14. The structural design system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further include outputting the manufacturer dataset.
 15. Thestructural design system of claim 1, wherein accessing the floor plancomprises accessing a CAD file.
 16. The structural design system ofclaim 1, wherein the customized configuration includes a communicationsprotocol.
 17. The structural design system of claim 1, wherein thecustomized configuration includes a firmware type.
 18. The structuraldesign system of claim 1, wherein the at least one customized equipmentconfiguration includes both a physical equipment device setting andprogramming parameter.
 19. The structural design system of claim 1,wherein the customized equipment configuration specifies a primaryequipment and at least one auxiliary equipment.
 20. The structuraldesign system of claim 1, wherein the customized equipment configurationincludes the aggregation of at least two different pieces of equipment.21. The structural design system of claim 1, wherein accessing the floorplan comprises accessing a BIM file.
 22. The structural design system ofclaim 1, wherein the technical specifications are adaptive based on ageographic location of a building represented in the floor plan.
 23. Thestructural design system of claim 1, wherein the accessed technicalspecifications are adaptive based on a room function of at least oneroom.
 24. The structural design system of claim 1, wherein thecustomized equipment configuration is determined based on a roomfunction of at least one room.
 25. The structural design system of claim1, wherein the generative analysis includes receiving, as an input, atechnical specification for at least one piece of equipment placed onthe floor plan prior to the generative analyzing process.
 26. Thestructural design system of claim 1, wherein the room features include afurniture type.
 27. The structural design system of claim 1, whereingenerating the manufacturer dataset includes generating the roomidentifier based on a semantic enrichment process.
 28. The structuraldesign system of claim 1, wherein the system is implemented on acloud-based system.
 29. A structural design method for customizingequipment for use in buildings based on floor plans, the methodcomprising: accessing a floor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms, thefunctional requirements including one or more performance criteria orrules; accessing functional requirements associated with the pluralityof rooms, the technical specifications including information specifyinga piece of equipment; accessing technical specifications associated withthe functional requirements; performing floor plan analysis on the floorplan to ascertain room features associated with the functionalrequirements and technical specifications; generatively analyzing theroom features with reference to the functional requirements and thetechnical specifications to determine at least one customized equipmentconfiguration for one or more of the plurality of rooms, the at leastone customized equipment configuration including a modification to aparameter of the piece of equipment in a manner that differs from adefault factory setting; and generating a manufacturer dataset includinga room identifier, an equipment identifier, and the at least onecustomized equipment configuration, the manufacturer dataset associatingthe at least one customized equipment configuration with the roomidentifier and the equipment identifier.
 30. A non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at leastone processor, cause the at least one processor to execute operationsenabling a structural design method for customizing equipment for use inbuildings based on floor plans, the operations comprising: accessing afloor plan demarcating a plurality of rooms; accessing functionalrequirements associated with the plurality of rooms the functionalrequirements including one or more performance criteria or rules;accessing technical specifications associated with the functionalrequirements, the technical specifications including informationspecifying a piece of equipment; performing floor plan analysis on thefloor plan to ascertain room features associated with the functionalrequirements and technical specifications; generatively analyzing theroom features with reference to the functional requirements and thetechnical specifications to determine at least one customized equipmentconfiguration for one or more of the plurality of rooms, the at leastone customized equipment configuration including a modification to aparameter of the piece of equipment in a manner that differs from adefault factory setting; and generating a manufacturer dataset includinga room identifier, an equipment identifier, and the at least onecustomized equipment configuration, the manufacturer dataset associatingthe at least one customized equipment configuration with the roomidentifier and the equipment identifier.